Love: Harmony of Light and Darkness
by mcangel1976
Summary: Nekozawa has fallen for Haruhi, but does she feel the same? Someone is out to get her, or is it bad luck? It will take all Nekozawa has to keep her safe and alive. How will the hosts react to the feelings the Dark Prince has for the Host Club Princess? Antics will ensue and might make a rescue job harder. Will Nekozawa convince her of his feelings and win her heart as he saves her?
1. Some Truths

**A/N: Here it is… my first Nekozawa/Haruhi story. I am not sure how long it will be, but expect craziness, love, drama, and a little suspense with it. This story is dedicated to all of my readers. Thank you for supporting me and allowing me to write for you. Enjoy the new story. Kyoya/Haruhi should be up next week. **

Chapter 1 – Some Truths

Umehito Nekozawa opened the door to the third music room a crack and peeked it. It wasn't really spying, but he wanted to look upon the girl that had started to make an impact in his life. Ever since his sister made her appearance at school and the Host Club tried to find a way to bring the brother and sister together, Haruhi had been coming over to the house to spend time with Kirimi. He had learned that she was a girl on her first trip to the house and swore that he would keep her secret and would go as far as cutting out his own tongue if he needed to. She assured him that wasn't necessary and after that they had started to forge a friendship of some sort. She intrigued him and he was starting to realize that he sought her out more and more, and she was not aware of him most of the time as he stayed to the darkness and shadows. He just couldn't get enough of her even though she lived in the light.

Kyoya heard a door creek open and knew without looking that it was the Dark Prince. The senior had come by almost every day and would peek inside for a few minutes before leaving again. Glancing behind him to verify his theory, Kyoya saw the bewigged head and as soon as his senpai saw him turn around, the head was gone and the door was closed. The Shadow King turned back around and scanned the room until his eyes fell on the only female host disguised as a male student and shook his head. Setting aside the intelligence he had gathered, it was more than obvious to him that Nekozawa had feelings for Haruhi, but had not quite admitted them, maybe not even to himself. There was a long line of potential suitors out for her hand, and as Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose once again he had to wonder who the girl was interested in.

"Mommy! Our sons are harassing our daughter again!" Tamaki ran up to his best friend crying.

Shaking his head, Kyoya sighed, "Tamaki, I am sure we have been through this a few times, more times than I care to count. He is not our daughter and they are not our sons. I am not mommy and you are not daddy. I will however accept the fact that we are like a family to you and each other… at times. Now you need to get back to your guests before they complain of your lack of attention for them." He watched as a shocked look appeared on his best friend's face and then the blonde ran away straight to his section to dote on the girls he realized he was starting to ignore.

Kyoya looked around the room again and started to think about the dubbed daughter of the club. He himself was intrigued by her, but not enough to pursue her. Tamaki was delusional and had feelings for her, but was confusing those with fatherly affection. Then there was Mori, Kyoya was sure the tall stoic man had feelings for her also, but he wasn't sure he would act on them or how strong they really were. Hunny just saw her as a sister and had no feelings for her beyond that; and that left the twins. They both had feelings for her, but Hikaru was more brash and jealous than Kaoru; and the younger twin was willing to put his feelings and life on hold for his brother. Hikaru was still trying to figure out his feelings, but Kaoru's mind had awakened and he knew exactly what both of them felt for Haruhi. So who did Haruhi have feelings for? Honestly Kyoya didn't know. She was so hard to read and figure out sometimes. She hardly ever realized when someone had feelings for her and yet she was popular with the boys. Maybe it was her sweet innocence that attracted them to her. Regardless of that, it would take more observation from him to figure out the puzzle, but then again… Kyoya loved a challenge.

Walking back to his club room, Nekozawa was cursing himself for almost being caught by the youngest Ootori. He knew that looking in on Haruhi every day could be dangerous, but he couldn't stop himself. He was drawn to her, and even though he believed she deserved someone else, he couldn't stay away. Pausing in the hallway, he leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting. Haruhi was so much more than he ever thought possible, and he had never felt this way about another person. He wasn't sure what it was, but he needed to figure it out.

When he felt calm enough, he got up and walked into the Black Magic club room located in the basement of Ouran High School. This was what he knew and what he surrounded himself with. This made sense to him. Why couldn't Haruhi make sense to him? Why did he always think about her and dream about her. He couldn't even escape from her amongst everything that he normally held so dear to him. "What was that Beelzenef?" He asked the cat puppet on his hand. "I know, but I can't forget her."

"Nekozawa-senpai, I see you have returned from your errand. Did all go well?" A girl inquired as she approached him.

"Hai Reiko!" He replied with a smile that could be termed as almost creepy.

Reiko stood there for a minute debating if she should talk to her friend about what she had recently seen while scrying. He was the president of the club, so she should tell him, shouldn't she? "Um Nekozawa-senpai, I saw something earlier."

"What was it?" He probed a bit nervously and looked down at his puppet, shaking his head and making Beelzenef look like he was shaking his head too. Was he busted? Did Reiko see him spying on Haruhi?

Looking from side to side to make sure none of the other club members overheard her, she took another step forward and whispered, "I think Haruhi Fujioka is a girl. That is what my crystal ball told me, but that doesn't make sense because she is in the Host Club with my beloved. Do you think she is fooling all of them? Is she trying to get close to Haninozuka?"

The Black Magic Club president's eyes widened in shock, Reiko's ball had always provided her with visions and they had always been true, but he had not been expecting this, "Come with me." He led her out of the club room and into an empty classroom on a floor above their clubroom. Once the door was shut and locked, he studied his prodigy momentarily before stating, "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room and you are to tell no one."

"What is going on senpai?" The first year asked confused. She had not been expecting to be led away from her club room or for her president to demand her secrecy from her with such an impassioned tone of voice just because she told him Haruhi was a girl. What was going on? "I swear I will not say anything to anyone," she declared knowing that if he was that serious about it, it had to be something that was important.

"Haruhi Fujioka is a girl. She has reasons for being in the Host Club and disguising herself as a boy," he explained and saw the look of angst that crossed her face, "It is not to get close to Hunny. They are only friends. You will not tell a soul about this and if you do, you know my magic is more powerful than yours is."

Gulping, Reiko nodded, "I understand."

He thought about it for a minute before he asked, "What did you see that showed you that Haruhi was a girl?"

"Her funeral."

"WHAT?"

"I don't know what it was, but I saw her funeral and she was a girl."

"Tell me exactly what you saw!" He demanded feeling panic rise up in him.

Reiko studied her senpai for a moment and it dawned on her, Umehito Nekozawa had feelings for Haruhi Fujioka, and then she wondered if he realized it yet. Furrowing her brow, she told him everything, "I saw something falling and then Haruhi lying still. Then here was an ambulance and then a machine flat lining. Finally, I saw her lying in a casket."

"Wh-When does this happen?"

"I don't know senpai," she spoke softly seeing the anguish on his face.

"Can you try to look and figure it out?"

"I will try senpai."

"Thank you Reiko, and please tell no one of this."

"I won't, but I will tell you that I don't think it is an accident. It could be though; it is just a feeling I get."

Nodding, Nekozawa opened the door and let the girl exit first. As they made their way back to their club room, he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that overcame him at his kohai's words. Too many people would be affected by Haruhi's death and the loss would be too great. He knew the Host Club didn't want to lose her and… he knew couldn't lose Haruhi either.


	2. Three Days

**A/N: I was excited when I saw the response I got to this story! It is a different pairing from what I usually write, but so many people wanted to see a Nekozawa/Haruhi pairing, I couldn't resist writing one. Enjoy the new chapter and please review if you can. Thank you!**

Chapter 2 – Three Days

Haruhi had been sitting in the library and felt like someone was watching her. Actually she had been having that feeling for a while now and knew that Nekozawa checked in on her from time to time. She never really knew why he did that, but she had come to accept it as part of her average day which included deadly hugs from a blonde, being called a toy by two red heads, and offers of cake. Everything was just part of her crazy life at Ouran. However, it seemed like the feeling of being watched had intensified over the past couple of weeks and she couldn't understand why; it was a feeling she couldn't shake and it was starting to make her a little nervous.

As she sat at one of the study tables thanking whatever deity that the library was actually quiet for once, Haruhi looked around quickly. She wasn't sure if she was actually being watched at that time or not, but she had become a little paranoid about it all. Seeing no one and nothing out of the ordinary, she returned to her work muttering to herself, "Calm down Haruhi. Next you will be jumping at shadows and believing in ghost stories."

Those thoughts for some reason brought about thoughts of a senior that covered his blonde hair with a wig and cloak, his companion puppet always on his hand. Smiling when she pictured him both in his coverings and without them, Haruhi chuckled a bit a blush rising to her cheeks. He was so different from what she first thought of him when he appeared in the club room shortly before the twins had started to fight. Now she knew him as a caring brother, intelligent, sweet, and was becoming a good friend; but there were times when she felt a quickening in her chest as she thought about him and she didn't know why. Returning her attention to the books before her, she forced herself to stop thinking about the black magic president and to work on gathering the research she needed for her term paper.

Nekozawa had increased his watch over Haruhi when Reiko told him what she had seen. She had an uncanny ability in the area of scrying and he would not discount anything she saw in her crystal ball. He knew he could go and talk to the hosts about what was seen, but he already knew how that would go and Haruhi would not like the results: Hunny would cry, Tamaki would get even more overprotective of her and cross the line more than what he already does, the twins would set up a guard around her with them as the guards, and Mori would watch over her silently like he already does. All in all, she would feel like she was being smothered more than she already does and she would resent it all. They would bombard her and she would no longer have any quiet time in her life. He thought about talking to the Shadow King about what was seen, but he wasn't sure that Kyoya would actually believe him, and so he kept quiet, silently watching over the Host Club secret princess on his own. Maybe deep down he thought he could be her knight in shining armor, but he would do anything to just make sure she remained safe and in this world.

Looking through the window in the library doors, he saw the object of his affection sitting at a table studying and knew she was safe for now. He felt confident that he could leave her for a short period of time and seek out Reiko to see if she had narrowed down the time frame of Haruhi's supposed demise. He needed to know so that he could be prepared for anything. It had been a quiet two weeks and he had a feeling that the hour glass was about to empty, and he would do anything he could to make sure the sand did not run out on the brunette's life.

He did wonder sometimes if Haruhi knew he was watching over her. There were times when she would turn around and look at the shadows where he was hiding before she would move on. Could she see him? He didn't think so, but the first year honor student was more astute than most other girls, scratch that, most other people he had had the "honor" to meet in his short life. She could see through people and read them no matter what mask they were wearing or what was happening, and it was one of the things that he had come to enjoy about her. What was happening to him? He still had not figured out what these feelings were, but as he looked through the library window yet again, he could feel his heart race and the need to protect her almost overwhelmed him.

Looking his puppet in the eye, he asked, "What am I doing Beelzenef?" Pausing, it appeared as if he was listening to what the cat on his hand had to say to him before he responded, "Her friends in the Host Club would be better suited to protecting her and playing her rescuer." There was another pause and then, "It isn't love. It can't be. I think you have been getting too close to the potions again. Either some dropped on you or the fumes are getting to you." The Dark Prince glanced through the window once more, "Let's see if Reiko found out something and then we will pass the information onto Ootori-san. He will be able to make sure she is safe and we will not have to worry about it any longer. It is time to put some distance between us."

A few minutes later he was making his way into the belly of the school and entered the black magic club room. Glancing where Reiko's crystal ball sat on a table, he found his kohai concentrating on the images that the ball was playing for her, and he hoped that she had more information for him. He gracefully approached her and probed, "Do you have when?"

"Not exactly, but I was able to narrow it down. It will happen within the next three days," Reiko stated studying her senpai. She had a feeling his interest in Haruhi was more than just friendship and knew he wanted Haruhi for himself. She had seen the look of pain cross his face when she had told him of her vision and Nekozawa had done what he could from the shadows to guard Haruhi and make sure no harm came to her.

"Three days… three days and we find out if our world becomes blacker or if the sun will continue to shine," he murmured.

"Senpai?" Reiko had heard what he had said, but wondered if he realized he was letting his feelings show. Umehito Nekozawa never showed feelings about anything unless it was about his little sister; Haruhi was proving to be just as important as Kirimi and Reiko hoped that he got his wish.

"Nothing. I must talk to Ootori-san about this," he declared and turned on his heal to leave immediately seeking out Kyoya Ootori in music room three. If the vice president wasn't there, then he would start searching the second year classrooms.

Luck was on Nekozawa's side, for when he opened the door to the music room, Kyoya was sitting at his table working on his laptop and no one else was in sight. Now he could tell the other man what was going on and wash his hands of the whole situation. He was getting too close for his own good and he shouldn't want to be with Haruhi, shouldn't have feelings for her. She needed to be with someone like the bespectacled man in front of him.

"Hello Nekozawa-senpai. Is there something I can do for you?" Kyoya stopped his typing and looked up when the bewigged man entered the Host Club's home. It was not unusual for Nekozawa to make an appearance, but it was odd that he was there when no one else was present and he seemed… agitated.

"We need to talk to you," the third year stated bluntly.

Gesturing to the other seat at his table, Kyoya invited the man to sit down. It must be important if he was seeking out the Shadow King of Ouran, "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you."

"What can I do for you?"

"Haruhi is in danger."

This caught Kyoya's attention. What was the Dark Prince talking about? "Excuse me?" He inquired.

"Within the next three days something will happen to Haruhi and if it is not stopped it can and will lead to her death," Nekozawa struggled to get the words out and felt like he was fighting a lump in his throat that was closing off the words.

"Do you want to tell me how you know this senpai, and for that matter what you know?" It wasn't that Kyoya was taking his words lightly, but it seemed almost fantasy or a sick joke.

Taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Umehito started his explanation, "Two weeks ago Reiko was scrying and saw in her crystal ball something drop or fall on Haruhi and then she was still. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital, but then there was a flat line, and then Reiko saw Haruhi lying in a casket dead. It was how she found out Haruhi is a girl. I have been trying to watch over her so that Reiko could narrow down the day it would happen, and today she said it would be in the next three days. You can watch over her better than I can and you are her friend, although you probably don't really want to admit it. I didn't want to tell the others because they would probably go overboard and cause more damage than they would protect her, but you have resources at your disposal and you could be discreet unlike they would."

"I am sorry senpai, but why should I take this seriously. Surely you know that…" the second year started and was interrupted.

"I know you don't believe in the dark arts or what I practice. It is not logical to you and you are all about logic, but even you have to admit that there are things that are unexplainable in the universe. When Reiko sees something in her ball, she is always right. This is not a threat to take lightly."

"So I am to protect Haruhi from falling objects?"

"In a sense, but there is something else, Reiko said that she didn't think it was an accident; which means someone is out to get Haruhi."

Kyoya wasn't sure what was pulling at him to believe the third year seated across from him, but something told him to take what his senpai was saying seriously. If that is the case, then Haruhi could be in great danger, but how do you protect from falling objects? Studying the other man, Kyoya pushed up his glasses and caught the light of the room thus hiding his eyes, "You could have continued to watch over her and saved her yourself. Why are you telling me?"

"I find that I can no longer take on the burden of protecting her. She is a member of the Host Club and therefore it is your responsibility to protect her, not mine. I have done what I could up until now, but I can do no more."

"What about as a friend?"

"Excuse me?"

"Isn't she a friend of yours and your sister? I know she goes over to your house quite often to visit with Kirimi," Kyoya pressed. He knew he was pushing his senior and he didn't know why, but he couldn't stop himself.

Letting a short breathless almost most chortle escape his lips, Nekozawa answered, "She is a friend of my little sister's and as such I am telling the person that I think will ensure her safety the best. Haruhi has many plans for her life and she does not deserve to have that life cut short for any reason." He stood up from the chair and started to make his exit, stopping halfway to the door, "Just make sure you keep her out of danger Kyoya Ootori."

"I will do what I can senpai," the Host Club vice president promised and watched the other man leave. There were so many questions that were going through his head, but first and foremost was who would want to hurt Haruhi? He had no answers, but he did have a job to do and pulled out his cell phone to make some calls. He would do everything in his power to make sure his kohai and friend was kept from harm, but it would be a lot easier to know who he was protecting her from, when it was going to happen, what was going to happen, and why this was happening.

As Nekozawa stepped out of music room three, he promised that whoever was out to get Haruhi, he would find them and curse them for the rest of their lives. An eerie laugh filled the halls as the cloaked figure made his way back to the basement of the high school, "Come Beelzenef, we have work to do and I need to find the right curse. I also want to see if I can find a spell of protection for Haruhi. She is going to need all of the help she can get."


	3. The Threat is Real

**A/N: I know that Still Assuming would normally be written next based on writing order, and I was working on it today, but every time I started typing, new things would pop into my head for this story. So I had to put it down and update this one or I wouldn't be able to really concentrate on Still Assuming. For everyone following that story, please look for the update tomorrow. For this story, don't worry, you will see Nekozawa and Haruhi get together eventually. I may have written some angst in my previous stories, but I am a believer in a happy ending (for at least my pairings). Nekozawa has always listened to his puppet, so why stop now. He needs to listen to it and deal with it. LOL. Lizzie… Thank you very much! I take that as a huge compliment! Everyone… Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think if you can. THANK YOU EVERYONE!**

Chapter 3 – The Threat is Real

Nekozawa scoured through the many tomes the Black Magic Club had in its possession, but none of the spells and incantations were what he was looking for; at least not when it came to Haruhi's protection. He would have to look to at the ones he had at home later. He found plenty that would curse the person that would bring harm to the brunette girl. Of course the problem with those was that he needed to know who it was for the curses to work, and he was sure with patience, he would find the answers he sought. Reiko was still working hard to learn the culprit and to narrow down the time even further. Haruhi would not die; not under his watch… correction Kyoya's watch.

Narrowing his eyes as he looked into the glowing flame of the candle on his desk, the cat worshipper didn't like how that thought sat in his chest. Something felt wrong about having the Shadow King of Ouran watching out for someone as precious as Haruhi, even if he could offer the girl the best protection. Mori or Hunny could protect her, but they didn't have the resources Kyoya did with his network of cameras and men at his disposal. _"This is for the best and Haruhi deserves the best life has to offer," _he sighed to himself and then sat up straight. Where had that come from? He looked down at the puppet that had been placed in a little chair sitting on his desk; words from earlier today that had come from his small companion were rushing through his brain. Could he really love Haruhi Fujioka? Shaking himself from that line of thinking, he brushed everything away because he didn't have time to think about that stuff and Haruhi deserved more than someone who stuck to the darkness.

Elsewhere in the school, someone was watching a brunette in a male uniform running down the hall towards the music room. To the eyes of the watcher, Haruhi seemed carefree and happy, like he didn't have a care in the world. Fujioka was a freak of nature though and didn't deserve to be so joyful. He didn't deserve to be amongst the students at Ouran, and he should have just stayed where he was and with his own kind.

The watcher had been a customer of the Host Club since its inception and there was only one host she had in her sights… Tamaki Suoh. She knew that he was flattering and could whip all of the girls into a frenzy, but he had captured her heart and he whispered into her ear that she had "weaved a spell around his soul and his eyes looked for her to bring beauty to this otherwise drab world." Taking those words, she had embraced them and believed them wholeheartedly. He may cajole other girls, but he wouldn't tell her that he loved her unless he meant it.

Sakura Seito had no problems with anyone in the host club until "he" showed up. Haruhi Fujioka burst into the club and now Tamaki only half paid attention to his guests. He was constantly running off to check on Haruhi or to embrace him. It wasn't fair. Being the woman of breeding that she was though, Sakura brushed off everything and chose to believe that it was a passing fancy. Tamaki was interested in new and exciting things, and a commoner's lifestyle fit the current bill. The blonde half Frenchman was a bit ADD, and she knew this phase would soon be pushed to the dark recesses of his mind and the commoner would be left in the dust after everything settled; but that is not what was happening! It had been several months since Haruhi joined the Host Club and Tamaki was just as enraptured with him as he had been day one. If she didn't know any better, she would believe that Tamaki might even love Haruhi… NOT POSSIBLE!

Sneering at the back of the youngest host, Sakura wanted to see the commoner ruined. It was bad enough that Tamaki was fawning over him and making a fool of himself, but the thing that tilted the scales was when Sakura's little sister came to her crying her eyes out because she dared give her heart to the commoner and was thrust away and rejected coldly and callously. Haruhi had no thought to the young girl's feelings; he didn't care and looked down upon Atsuko. Her little sister was heartbroken and he could care less. How dare a commoner treat her little sister this way? Did he not realize that he should have felt lucky and blessed that someone from such an esteemed family would look upon him with affection? Sakura believed his time in the Host Club had made him comfortable and he now thought of himself as their equal; he would never be their equal because he would always be inferior to them. It was time to avenge her sister and to show Tamaki that Haruhi was nothing more than a worm trying to climb to the top and using the hosts for his own nefarious gains.

Haruhi glanced at her watch and realized that once again she was running late. Kyoya would probably increase her debt even more, Tamaki would pull her into a hug that would crush bones (thankfully her bones were strong and she drank milk every day), the twins would tease Tamaki and get him into another frenzy, Mori would rescue her, and then Hunny would offer her some of his cake. She could probably time it down to within a couple of seconds on how everything would play out. Why couldn't she just have one day that was semi normal, but that was probably too much to ask from the group of guys she hung around. Laughing to herself, she took a deep breath and opened the door to the music room and cued the crazy blonde president as she braced herself for impact.

"Haruhi! Oh my darling daughter, I was so very worried about you. We were about to send out the military to find you!" Tamaki screeched in Haruhi's ear as he grabbed her and pulled her towards him.

It was the twins turn, "Boss, do you like feeling her up every day like a pervert?"

This sent Tamaki into overdrive and he started to rant at both Hikaru and Kaoru tightening his embrace on Haruhi ever so slightly, "I AM NOT! It is natural for a father to worry and hug his daughter!"

"Let me go Tamaki-senpai," Haruhi choked out, but alas she was not heard because Tamaki's attention was centered on the twins and he had forgotten he was crushing her. She looked up and there was Mori right on time pulling her from the overzealous teenage king who cried out from the travesty of losing his daughter. Once she had regained her breath and could talk, Haruhi smiled up at the tall senior, "Thanks again Mori-senpai!"

Mori gave her a small smile and then patted her head before leading her away from the melee made up of one blonde and two redheads. When they reached the table where the two cousins hosted, Hunny looked up and beamed, "Do you want some cake Haru-Chan?"

"Not right now Hunny-senpai. I am going to go get the tea ready for the customers," the girl grinned at her short friend.

"Haruhi, I need to talk to you after club time. Please see me when you are done with your guests for the day," Kyoya stated from right behind her. He noticed the girl jumped a little and got a small amount of pleasure from scaring her just a bit.

Placing her hand over her racing heart, Haruhi turned around and told him, "Okay Kyoya-senpai. If this is about my debt, I am sorry I'm late. I was researching for a paper I have to write in the library and I lost track of time again."

"Maybe we need to get you an alarm or timer for school, but no that is not what we need to discuss," Kyoya said and turned around walking back to his table. Nekozawa might not have told her of the danger she could potentially be in, but Kyoya felt it was her right to know. Plus it would make keeping an eye out for her that much easier. The girl might have seen something or know who is out to get her, and if she was on her guard, he would feel better that she would not get hurt. Haruhi had a good head on her shoulders and he didn't believe she would panic, but listen to what he had to say and then be alert.

"Okay," she answered hesitantly wondering what he had to tell her if it wasn't about her debt. It wasn't like they weren't friends, but they didn't make it a point to hang out and talk all that often; and when they did, it was a spur of the moment thing and always involved academics. She shook her head and went to the kitchen to carry out her pre host duties deciding to think about the upcoming conversation with her senpai after it happened.

Host Club went about as well as it usually did, but somehow Haruhi had only been distracted from her customers once by Tamaki who was immediately sent back to his area with four words from her, "You're not my father." The president of the club tried to offer her a ride home, but she declined not wanting to deal with the drama or the hassle that came with her friend; plus she needed to meet with Kyoya. She noticed Nekozawa once during hosting time, but as soon as their eyes locked, he disappeared and she was left with something akin to sadness and regret swirling in her chest; and she was unsure as to why that would be.

Walking up to Kyoya once Tamaki and the twins had left, Haruhi inquired, "What did you need Kyoya-senpai?" She spoke softly since Mori and Hunny were still in the room and she wasn't sure if this conversation was supposed to be private.

Kyoya wasn't sure how to breech the subject because it wasn't an easy topic, and it was a little odd. Pushing up his glasses, he closed his computer and gestured for her to sit in the other seat at the table. He could see her eyes widen and the small gulp and he found himself smiling to try to reassure her that she was not in trouble… yet. On the contrary, he was trying to stop trouble before it started, "A matter of importance has been brought to my attention concerning you."

"Me? What did I do?" Haruhi asked shakily still trying to keep her voice down. Kyoya never closes his computer to talk unless it was really important or he was getting ready to go. He was not packed up and she didn't think it was the latter. Something was seriously wrong and that alone made her slightly afraid of what it could be.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Kyoya stated as he furrowed his brow. What could Haruhi have done to anger someone to the point they were going to try to kill her?

"What?"

Rubbing his forehead, Kyoya looked at the girl in front of him and sighed, "What I am about to tell you, I have not received confirmation on, but it is a reliable source."

"Okay."

"Within three days' there will be an attempt on your life. I am doing what I can to find out who is after you and why they would want to kill you, but I need you to be on your guard and aware of everything around you."

"KILL ME?!" Haruhi yelled and stood up quickly toppling the chair she was seated in to the floor.

Hunny and Mori were heading for the door to leave when they heard Haruhi's shout and were both immediately by her side. "What happened Haru-Chan? Kyo-Chan what did you do?" Hunny asked seriously.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kyoya looked up at his senpais and nodded, "I will tell you what I know."

Mori righted the chair for Haruhi and gently pushed her into it. He could tell she was shocked and not sure what to think. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wanted to know and fast, "Talk."

"I received information from a valuable source that an attempt on Haruhi's life will be made within three days. I don't know who is out to get her or why, and I am trying to find out that information, but we need to be diligent for the next few days. I don't know what will happen, but Haruhi, you need to be aware of your surroundings and if there is anything suspicious, you need to tell me immediately," Kyoya explained what he knew leaving out the part of who his source was and how the information was discovered.

"Who, who told you this?" Haruhi questioned wondering if this so called source could be the person behind everything. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"It isn't a joke Haruhi. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but I need you to be on guard. I could have had someone following you without your knowledge, but I think it would be better if you knew what was going on so that you are not caught unaware by anything," Kyoya stated.

Looking down at his young kohai, Mori was sure if he was looking in her eyes, he would see the fear lurking there. How could she not be afraid if this was real? He did agree with Kyoya about telling her though because she would be in more danger if she wasn't paying attention to the little things. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he asked, "Have you noticed anything or anyone strange lately?"

Haruhi was shaking her head and scowling, but then she stopped, "I have felt like someone has been following me and watching me a lot. I know Nekozawa-senpai has, but it isn't just him. At least I don't think it is."

If any of the three men in the room were surprised by what Haruhi disclosed, none of them showed it. Right now, they needed as much information as possible and her safety was the priority.

Staring at his friend, Hunny let a couple of tears gather, "Haru-Chan, do you know anything else?"

"No, I'm sorry Hunny-senpai, but I don't. What are we going to do Kyoya-senpai?" Haruhi probed.

"I have a couple of men watching you, and before you ask… no, this will not go towards your debt. I am also tapped into the Ouran security camera system and will review anything suspicious. You need to make sure you stay on guard and watch out for anything even a remotely dubious and irregular. Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai you can help by keeping your eyes and ears open also. I am not sure where the threat is coming from. I would also recommend that we do not tell Tamaki or the twins about this. I don't want their interference wreaking havoc and causing a greater chance at danger," the vice president expounded.

"Agreed!" The other three readily declared knowing that the other three getting involved could be disastrous.

"Haru-Chan, will you let Takashi and I give you a ride home today?" Hunny asked producing a few more tears to convince the girl not to walk home alone.

Haruhi wasn't sure what was going on or who would want to do her harm, but right now she knew a ride was probably the best thing in this situation, "Thank you Hunny-senpai. I would really appreciate that."

Smiling, Hunny glanced up at his taller cousin, "Takashi, I just need to grab something from my locker. Can you take Haru-Chan out to the car and I will be right there?"

"Yah. Come on Haruhi," Mori helped the shocked girl up and escorted her out of the room. He knew Hunny wanted to talk to Kyoya about something without Haruhi being present.

When the door closed signaling that the other two hosts had left, Hunny turned to Kyoya, "It was Reiko and Nekozawa. That is your source, isn't it?"

Heaving a heavy sigh, Kyoya nodded, "It is. Reiko saw something when she was scrying and told Nekozawa-senpai. She saw Haruhi flat line and then her funeral, and questioned Nekozawa about Haruhi really being a girl instead of a boy. He was so adamant about it that I had to take him seriously. I would rather go overboard now and find out that we had nothing to worry about, than to not take it seriously and something actually happen to her."

"I agree Kyo-Chan. You know he has feelings for her and would do anything to make sure she wasn't hurt, don't you?"

Apparently, Kyoya wasn't the only one observing Nekozawa as he watched Haruhi. He should have known that the oldest host would notice because Hunny was one of the most observant people he knew. Chuckling, the Shadow King stated, "I know he has feelings for her. He isn't the one out to get her and I believe him when he says that there is a threat, especially after what Haruhi just said. I am not sure I believe in all of the hocus pocus stuff, but she knew Haruhi was a girl and we need to take her information earnestly."

"I am with you Kyo-Chan. We will do what we can and if we see or hear anything, we will tell you about it."

"Thank you, senpai."

"If you find out anything else, let us know. We will do anything we can to protect her," Hunny vowed.

Kyoya pushed up his glasses one more time and gave his senior a small smile, "I will."

With those last words, Hunny ran out of the room to catch up with Mori and Haruhi. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he did know that there was a threat and it had to be neutralized. Someone was going to find out why he was so feared in martial arts circles.

Standing in the shadow, Nekozawa had watched Haruhi leave with Mori and felt the need to reach out to her, but he stopped himself. She looked shaken and on edge, which meant she was probably told of the danger. That was good, but he wanted to take the terror out of her and replace it once again with happiness and light. He silently affirmed that he would make whoever was after her pay for putting it there. Admitting that he loved her, he would do anything to make sure she was safe, alive, and happy even if he couldn't be the one supplying those things to her, "Don't worry Haruhi, I will make it go away."


	4. Phone Calls and Spells

**A/N: Well Nekozawa has finally admitted that his puppet was right. See we all told him to listen to the Beelzenef like he always did, and we were right. Now we just need Haruhi to realize that she has feelings for him (might take a bit more work since she doesn't have a puppet to work with and is a bit more dense than Nekozawa), but we can't forget about the psycho out to get her and the other hosts. I am beginning to wonder if it will get worse before it gets better and I am the one writing it. LOL. Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think.**

Chapter 4 – Phone Calls and Spells

He had finally found it, the spell of protection that would help save Haruhi. Nekozawa had left school as soon as Haruhi disappeared and hurried home so that he could continue his quest through the tomes he had at home, and he had been successful. He needed to cast this spell and make sure that Haruhi was safe. Finally admitting he loved her, he was convinced that they could not be together, but that did not mean he would want a world without her. This was not going to turn into a bad romance movie where the man loves the girl, but in the end she dies. No, Haruhi Fujioka would live and even if he was not her protector any longer, he would make sure she was as safe as she could be.

Moving back into his room, Nekozawa opened the closet door and walked through a door located in the back that led to another room without windows. It was pitch black until he brought a candle into the small sanctuary and started to light the tapers around the room. He had been in there so many times he knew where they all were and he didn't need the lights to move around, but he did need them to be able to see enough to do his conjuring. He had never done a spell such as this before and it was one he had to get right.

"Beelzenef, are you ready?" The dark prince looked down at his puppet and received a nod to continue, "This has got to work!"

There was a lull in the conversation as Umehito stared at his cat puppet, "Even if I wanted her to, we cannot be together. That is not possible. I might love her, but I love her enough to let her go." Glaring down at the puppet, he growled, "Let's not discuss that right now. Right now we have some casting to do, so if you will…"

Following the spell in the book closely, he spoke the words waving his hands in the air. The flames on the candles surrounding him grew bathing the room in a glowing bright light as a wind out of nowhere appeared in the room moving the robes surrounding the high school third year. As his voice got louder, Nekozawa continued his chant, the flames and the wind growing with the sound and volume of his voice. When the climax was yelled and the spell was cast, a blinding light flashed as a deafening rumble sounded… and then it was still. The candles had blown out, the wind was gone, and the only thing that could be heard was the heavy breathing from the teen in the room and the sound of him collapsing into a chair.

As soon as he caught his breath, he found his matches and lit a lone candle on his desk, "It is done, now let's just hope it works." His words paused for a moment before he said, "She has too many dreams and too many people have fallen under her spell. She is too precious to lose."

**_Across town… _**

Haruhi lay on her bed, her homework long forgotten. It wasn't like her, but she was ahead in her classes and it wasn't every day that a girl was told someone was trying to kill her. It was some sort of bad movie plot or a cheesy mystery novel, but unfortunately it was her reality right now. Who would hate her so much that someone was willing to try to kill her though? She determined that she had to think about this logically.

Sitting up, she went to her desk and grabbed a couple of pieces of paper. She was going to make a list. Someone surely had to stand out as someone that would want to do her harm, and she wasn't going to wait for whoever it was to act. She was a smart capable woman and she would not sit idly by while Kyoya and his minions watched out for her.

"Ok, now think Haruhi," she told the room and started to think about people that did not like her. It didn't take long for the first name to appear… Ayanokoji. The girl has hated Haruhi since day one and even went so far as to throw her bag in the fountain and tried to accuse the female host of attacking her. Of course it wasn't possible, but the customer never knew the scholar student was really a girl. Furrowing her brow, she tried to think of more people that may not like her. The more she thought about it, the more the list grew: boyfriends of clients, clients she turned down, the small number of students that didn't think she belonged, and anyone who had a grudge against the host club in general. No one would dare attack a powerful family, but she didn't come from a high class family and was a commoner attending the school on scholarship. With a list that long she wondered why someone hadn't tried to take a hit out on her before.

After she reviewed the list, she realized that it was either laugh or cry, and she started to laugh because what could possibly cause someone of the higher class to want to bump off her a lowly commoner. It just didn't make sense.

As Haruhi sat there giggling, a swirl of wind blew through her open window. She got up to close it as soon as she could, but slipped on a piece of paper on the floor. Laying there until she could get her bearings and get up again, Haruhi could have sworn that the wind was embracing her and she thought she heard Nekozawa's voice in it. Laughing again, she got up to close the window, but the wind had died down almost as quickly as it came. She glanced outside, but it was still the clear blue sky it was earlier, it was just now nearing sunset.

The wind had given her a warm comforting feeling and she immediately thought about her blond senpai. Haruhi wasn't sure what she felt for him, but she did know that her heart raced just a little bit more when she caught sight of him. His real smile and not the creepy one he gave most people, made her want to smile back and she could feel herself blushing. Was it real, was it a stupid school girl crush, or was it just because she was finally starting to see the real him and they had come friends? If that was the case though, why did her pulse not race for the hosts?

Glancing behind her towards the bed, Haruhi walked over and picked up the list. Did she really have only one real name? She really didn't believe that it was Ayanokoji, but she also couldn't rule her out. She grabbed her phone and decided to call Kyoya with the results.

"Hello Haruhi," Kyoya spoke into the phone. Surely someone hadn't already tried to make a move on her life, but he guessed it was possible.

Haruhi took in a deep breath and exhaled, "Kyoya-senpai I was thinking about what you said and I tried to come up with a list of people that might want to hurt me."

Quirking an eyebrow, he should have expected no less from someone who liked to approach this logically and with great thought, "What have you come up with?"

"Ayanokoji was the first one on the list, but I can't imagine her wanting to kill me for revenge. Other than that, it is just groups of people."

"Such as?"

"People I turned down when they tried to confess to me, boyfriends of customers, students who don't think classes should mix. That is really about it. I don't have names because I can't imagine anyone wanting to do this to someone else unless they are psychotic. Are there any psychos at Ouran?" She had known it was a distasteful joke, but she couldn't help it. She could feel some panic starting to set it and she felt like she was on the verge of tears. She refused to be taken down and lose control though.

Kyoya could hear the warble in his friend's voice and he honestly didn't know how she hadn't broken down as of yet, but that was just who Haruhi was. She was independent and focused, and had been through more in her short life than most people ever experience. He wouldn't fault her for breaking down or crying, but knew even if she did, she would fight tooth and nail to get justice and to find this person that would try to do something to her. Trying to assure her and let her know that he really was there for her, the Shadow King told her, "Not that I am aware, but I will look into it. We are here for you when you need us, although I would recommend not informing Tamaki or the twins about this latest development. Unless you want to be under house arrest with them… I am sure I can arrange something."

Chuckling, Haruhi smiled, "I think I am good without that. I can only imagine what those three will do if they catch wind of this." She hesitated a moment before she spoke, "Thanks senpai for all of the help."

"It is no problem Haruhi."

"Um senpai?"

"Yes?"

"I know that you are not really into what the Black Magic Club is about, but maybe there is something Nekozawa-senpai can do. He says he has powers and can see things. I mean it isn't like we can put all our faith in it and we still have to have proof, but maybe he can help?"

If Kyoya had been drinking something at that point in time, he might have spewed. As it was, he started to cough and then cleared his throat, "I will see if there is anything he can do."

"Are you ok Kyoya-senpai?" Haruhi asked when she heard the coughing fit.

"I am fine Haruhi. I will check with Nekozawa-senpai and see if there is anything he can offer to help enlighten us."

"Thanks senpai. I just think that if he knew something was happening, he might want to help. He really is a good guy once you get to know him. He just likes to tease Tamaki-senpai and the twins."

"I know he does. Haruhi…" he was unsure how to proceed or ask, but he was curious about her feelings for the Black Magic Club president.

"Yes senpai?"

"You and Nekozawa-senpai have gotten fairly close lately, haven't you?"

"Well, yah, I go over and play with his sister and he is usually there. He doesn't always like to play with the dolls and stuff, but he will usually come and say hi and we talk. He has become a pretty good friend," she responded. She wasn't about to tell him everything else that thoughts of Nekozawa invoked in her; she wasn't ready to admit that to anyone… at least not until she could figure out what she was really feeling for him.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Kyoya pictured what would happen when Tamaki found out how close she was getting to the Dark Prince and that caused him to smirk. He wondered if Haruhi had realized she had feelings for Nekozawa yet, and that those feelings were returned, but then again this was Haruhi and there was no way. She was still probably trying to sort out her own feelings, and there was no way she would realize that the other man had feelings for her. She still hadn't figured out that Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki all had strong feelings for her. "When will you see him next?"

"I don't know. I was supposed to go and see Kirimi tomorrow after club time, but now I don't know if that is the best thing to do."

"I have to agree it is not safe at this time. Hopefully we can get this matter resolved quickly and you can return to your play dates. Now if you will excuse me, the blond idiot of our club is trying to call me," Kyoya grumbled.

Haruhi giggled and knew that Kyoya was going to have a headache by the end of that conversation and took pity on him, "Thanks again senpai, and try not to kill him."

"It is a phone call Haruhi, there is no possible way to kill him as long as he does not appear at my house."

"If anyone can find a way to kill over the phone lines, you can," Haruhi laughed again.

Chuckling, Kyoya stated, "Interesting notion, but never fear. I won't kill him tonight. I can't promise about tomorrow though. Good bye Haruhi."

"Bye Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi hit the end button and disconnected the call. She had a few things to figure out… Who wanted to kill her, and how did she really feel about Umehito Nekozawa?

Haruhi had to admit that although she was disappointed in not seeing Kirimi, she was even more disappointed in not spending the small bit of time she always got with her friend's older brother. Did that mean she had feelings for him? They were friends and becoming closer, maybe that was the reason for her downtrodden feelings at not seeing him. She got to catch glimpses of him at school, but it was the time she got to see and talk to him away from school that she found herself looking forward to.

Sighing, she went into the kitchen to make dinner for her and her father. Yet another person she was not going to tell about the threat on her life. If she didn't want to deal with Tamaki and the twins finding out, she doubly didn't want to deal with her father; that would be hell on earth.

As she pulled out everything she would need for dinner, she realized she needed to make one more call tonight, but before she could talk to the little girl she was about to disappoint, she would call the little girl's brother so that he could help Kirimi understand. Scrolling through her contact list Haruhi found the phone number she needed and hit talk and waited for someone to answer.

"Moshi moshi," a deep voice came through on the line.

Haruhi felt her cheeks heat up at the sound of the deep timbre, "Um hi Nekozawa-senpai. It is Haruhi. I needed to talk to you about something."

Cursing himself for not looking at the caller id on his phone before he answered, Umehito tried to act nonchalant, "Sure Haruhi. What can I do for you?"

"Well, it is actually about your sister," she said aloud and silently added, _"And my visit with you too."_

The cat worshiper was confused, "What about Kirimi?"

"Some things have come up and I won't be able to come by tomorrow. I was going to tell her, but you know how she can be sometimes, so I wanted to warn you. I was hoping you would help her to understand."

He immediately knew why she was cancelling and didn't know why he didn't think of it before. He was so worried about Haruhi's safety, that he gave no thought to the people around her. He was beginning to wonder what kind of brother he really was. Acting like he didn't know what was going on, he inquired, "Is everything alright?"

"Um, well, yah everything is fine. Kyoya-senpai said he might talk to you about a couple of things, but everything is fine. I just have a lot to take care of with school and some projects, so I am not sure when I will be able to come around for our visit again. I mean, I will come for a visit, I just don't know when it will be."

He could tell she was trying to play off the danger she was in and he truly hoped that she would come back for a visit, but he also knew that nothing was guaranteed; which was the reason he was doing everything he could to protect her, "I understand. Would you like to speak to my sister now, or I can tell her?"

"No, I will tell her myself. Is she around you? I can call the main house if she isn't," Haruhi believed in doing things for yourself and she wasn't about to have her senpai break a play date with a little girl.

"Hold on a second," he instructed and placed the phone on mute to go in search of the little girl that had brought Haruhi further into his life than she was previously. He found his little sister in her room coloring and slowly made his way in, trying to stay out of the light as much as possible, "Kirimi, Haruhi is on the phone."

"Nee-Chan?" Kirimi looked up from the paper she was drawing on with a beaming smile on her face and ran towards her brother grabbing the phone from him, "Nee-Chan! I am coloring you a picture!"

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Haruhi just knew she was about to hurt a little girl, "Hey Kirimi! I was calling to tell you that I won't be able to make it tomorrow."

Umehito could see his sister's face falling and wanted to pull her in for a hug. It wasn't Haruhi's fault she had to cancel, but it still broke his heart to see his sister upset; and he was a little upset at not being able to visit with Haruhi himself.

"But why nee-chan?" Kirimi pouted. She had been looking forward to Haruhi coming over the next day.

"I have a huge project for school I have to finish and some other things have come up, but I promise that as soon as I can, I will come over and we will go get ice cream," Haruhi promised and prayed she would be able to follow through.

"Oh," the little girl sniffled, "When will you be able to come over?"

Clearing her throat, Haruhi told her, "I don't know right now, but hopefully soon. Ok?"

"Ok, here is nii-chan again," Kirimi handed the phone back to her brother and slunk back to her little drawing table.

"Haruhi?" Nekozawa spoke when he got the phone back.

"Can you tell her that I am really sorry about this? I really do like spending time with her," Haruhi told him.

The third year nodded, "I know. I will tell her."

There was a lull in the conversation and then Haruhi spoke up, "Thanks again senpai. Sorry about all of this. I will see you around school."

"Ok Haruhi. Don't worry about Kirimi, you just take care of what you need to do and she will be here when you get done. Bye," he smiled gently before disconnecting the line. He wanted to comfort both girls and he could only comfort one of them. Walking up to his sister, he could see that she was crying and pulled her into his arms, "She loves you and she is really sorry, but this wasn't something she could stop."

"I know," Kirimi pouted. She tried to understand, but it still hurt because she was just a little girl and Haruhi was her best friend. She wanted Haruhi to marry her brother and become her real nee-chan.

"How about you and I go down to the kitchen and we find some chocolate milk for you?" Umehito offered.

"Cookies too?"

Laughing, he set his sister on her feet, "Ok cookies too since you already ate your dinner." Nekozawa could still see the disappointment in his sister's eyes, but he knew as soon as she saw Haruhi again, everything would be better.

Haruhi hung up the phone and sagged against her counter; it had been just as hard to tell her senpai she was cancelling as it had been his sister. She really needed to figure out what she felt for him; she felt she was on the cusp of figuring it all out and then she would convince herself that she really didn't have feelings for him… he was just a friend; and then the cycle would begin again. Was it just that she didn't want to actually admit to anything?

**_Across town…_**

"I need to make sure that he is alone and no one is around. This needs to be fast and hard," Sakura spoke aloud even though she was the only one in her room. "Haruhi Fujioka is about to learn a lesson he will never forget."


	5. Realizations and Reality

**A/N: Sigh, will Haruhi ever figure it out or will she keep convincing herself that she doesn't have feelings at all? At least Nekozawa knows, but he is convinced she deserves someone else. What will happen to these two? We also can't forget that Sakura Seito is out to get our favorite female host (I know only one), and Kyoya and Nekozawa are going to do what they can to prevent Reiko's vision from coming true. Is Nekozawa really done with interfering, or is something else going to happen to draw him back in? Let's find out… Enjoy!**

Chapter 5 – Realizations and Reality

_Haruhi felt the soft mattress underneath her and then could feel the sag as if someone was sitting down next to her. Suddenly she felt a hand brushing against her forehead and pushing the bangs out of her eyes. Unsure about what was happening, she continued to lay there with her eyes closed, but she wasn't afraid or scared. Something told her that she was safe and with a person that cared about her greatly and that she had feelings for as well. She could feel a smile tugging at her lips when the fingers caressed her cheek, and when she heard his voice, she sighed in contentment._

_Fighting to open her eyes, Haruhi slowly opened them and stared into the crystalline blue eyes of her senpai. The small smile that had appeared on her face widened and she saw her hand reaching up to touch his cheek. He felt so real and it felt so right to have him right there with her. _

_Nekozawa stared deeply into the brown eyes that held him captive and he could no longer fight it. He leaned down and before he kissed her, he whispered against her lips, "I love you Haruhi."_

_"I love you too Umehito-senpai," Haruhi softly replied and soon she felt his soft lips caress her own. _

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Haruhi jolted up into a sitting position and slammed the button on her alarm clock to turn it off. That dream… it had been so real, so perfect; and the last thing she wanted to do was wake up from it. Clutching her chest, she lay back and stared at the ceiling. Is that what she wanted? Was that how she really felt about him? The more she thought about it, the less confused she got and she had her answer, she had feelings for Nekozawa. More than she has ever felt for anyone else in her life, but now that she had admitted to herself that she had feelings for the man, was she brave enough to admit them to anyone else?

As she got up and got ready for school, she thought about her new found revelation. It wasn't a matter of if she wanted to tell her senpai or not, part of her did and part of her didn't. It was a scary thing to admit feelings for someone to one's self, admitting them to the other party could be terrifying. She could do it; she knew she could, but when she thought about admitting to Umehito Nekozawa that she had strong feelings for him, she cringed. It wasn't him she was worried about. It was the overprotective, nose in her business, not letting her have a moment to herself host club; and now a maniac was on the loose and wanted her dead. "Life got a lot more complicated when I started going to Ouran mom. What am I going to do?" Haruhi whispered as she looked at the picture on the small shrine in the living room.

"What was that Haruhi?" A voice sang out from the other room.

Haruhi hadn't expected her father to be up and about because he had gotten in so late, but it appeared he had decided to get up with her and see her off to school. "Nothing dad, I was just talking to mom a little bit," she replied refusing to tell her father exactly what she said or what was going through her mind.

Moving into the living room with a smile on his face, the older man studied his daughter for a moment and knew something was wrong with her. Kyoya hadn't told him anything was going on, but that didn't mean that Haruhi wasn't dealing with something. Kneeling next to her and looking at the picture of the woman that had given him Haruhi, he smiled, "She would be so proud of you right now."

"I hope she would."

"Know kiddo, she only ever wanted you to be happy: in life, school, love, profession, anything and everything. I want that too," he told her and brushed her bangs out of her face.

"Thanks dad and I know," Haruhi mumbled and immediately felt herself being pulled into a crushing embrace. It was times like these she wished Mori was with her to save her from more than just Tamaki, "Dad, let go. I have to get to school."

"You are just too adorable for words! I can't believe how grown up my baby girl is! You are just so cute!" The cross dresser yelled into his daughter's ear.

Haruhi sighed and shook her head, "Dad, I need to get to school."

Releasing his daughter, Ranka used his fingers to straighten her hair, "Of course, of course. Now you be good in school today and if that nasty blond idiot tries to get near you, I want you to run the other way."

"Ok dad, whatever," the girl murmured before walking over to the door and leaving her home. Smiling to herself, she knew that not everyone agreed with her father's profession or how they lived, but he was still her father and she knew she was loved by him.

Arriving at school a little early, Haruhi walked down the halls and felt like someone was watching her. "Of course someone is watching. Kyoya-senpai said he was going to have people watching me," she whispered, but there was a feeling of foreboding that she felt with the eyes on her. Looking around her, she found nothing and no one there. For all intents and purposes, it appeared that she was alone in the hallway, and yet something told her she was not truly alone.

Haruhi rubbed her chest over her heart wishing that the warm embracing wind was back and enveloping her. It might not really have been the Black Magic president, but she could pretend it was because when the air was swirling around her, she had felt safe and at peace; she needed that feeling now.

Turning around, she decided to ignore the feelings and just go to class. People were going to be watching her. She had someone after her and apparently needed a body guard, she was a host and their fangirls watched them like hawks, and she liked to think that the Dark Prince was actually watching her when she would catch glimpses of him in the halls or music room three.

Nekozawa stepped out of the shadows and watched the young first year walk to her classroom, and he didn't take his eyes off of her until she walked into her designated room. He had told himself over and over again that he was going to stop and leave her alone from now on; he had turned the case over to Kyoya and put a spell of protection on her, but it didn't matter. He still found himself seeking her out and needing to see and know with his own senses that Haruhi was alright. Glancing down at his little puppet, he whispered, "I need to stop, but I don't know how."

Walking down the corridor, cloaked figured gazed into the room where Haruhi was sitting at a desk and studying. She looked so innocent and beautiful that he felt his heart ache as longing shot through him and before he realized it, he was opening the door and walking into the classroom, "Good morning Haruhi."

The female student whipped around at the sound of the door opening, and her feelings of apprehension were replaced by a warm feeling as she smiled, "Ohayo Nekozawa-senpai."

"I hope I am not disturbing you, but I was on my way to the club room when I thought I saw you come in," he explained, "Beelzenef and I just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing."

Eyes moving from her senpai to the puppet on his hand and back again, it was the one thing she still couldn't get used to with him, but it was part of who he was, "I am ok. How is Kirimi? I felt horrible having to cancel our play date, but…"

"She knows that you wouldn't cancel if it wasn't something important."

"Thanks for being understanding. Ummm senpai?"

"Yes, Haruhi?" Nekozawa inquired taking one small step away from the door and internally berating himself for even entering the room.

Clearing her throat, Haruhi looked down before looking up again hoping she was gazing into his beautiful eyes, but it was hard to tell between the wig and the cloak, "Has Kyoya-senpai talked to you?"

_"Did she know about my involvement? Does she know I was the one that told Kyoya?" _Nekozawa thought to himself. He looked down at his cat as it appeared to shake its head no before glancing at the girl he loved and asked, "What about?"

It wasn't something she wanted to blurt out because there was no telling who could be walking down the hall or listening to her conversation. Standing up from her desk, she approached the blond, "Do you have a few moments? I don't think we should talk here. The twins will arrive momentar…" She was interrupted when two redheads stormed into the room and grabbed her. When she got her bearings, she realized that her senpai was no longer in the room leaving a small void in her chest. "Can you two let me go? I was in the middle of talking to someone, or didn't you see that?" Haruhi grumbled.

"Oh we saw," Hikaru smirked.

"And we decided to rescue you," Kaoru chuckled.

"Rescue me?" Haruhi questioned.

"Yah, we didn't want him to put a spell on you or something," Kaoru explained.

Hikaru continued, "And can you imagine what the boss would say if he knew you were consorting with the Black Magic Club president?"

"You would be locked up for eternity!" The twins dramatically exclaimed together clinging more tightly to the girl between them.

Rolling her eyes, Haruhi face palmed, "For you information, Nekozawa-senpai and I are friends. I go over to his house to see his little sister and he is usually there. You cannot tell me who I can and cannot talk to, and you can't tell me who I can and cannot be friends with!" She was getting frustrated and agitated more easily than normal and she knew it was because of the threat on her life and her new found feelings for Nekozawa.

"Of course you can," the twins placated their friend and patted her head, but they did not release her.

Elbowing her friends off of her, she ran out of the room in search of the Dark Prince and didn't find him. She figured he probably went to his club room or his classroom and she started to make her way towards the third years' wing, but she didn't make it far before she heard footsteps behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, Haruhi didn't see anyone, however she knew someone was there. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, _"Students are starting to get to school and people will be in the halls. This is normal." _She kept up that mantra, but found that she really didn't believe that it was so innocent.

Facing forward again, she took another few steps before she heard what sounded like metal hitting against something else, but before she could turn around and decipher what it was Haruhi was thrown to the ground. Opening her eyes, she found her disappearing senpai on top of her, the hood of his cloak thrown back and his wig askew. Out of the corner of her eyes, she also spotted what looked like a metal baseball bat which meant that someone had really tried to kill her and her senpai had saved her, "Nekozawa-senpai?"

Nekozawa looked at his kohai under him and smiled before falling again. He couldn't see or feel anything, but he could hear Haruhi call out his name as he passed out hoping that she was now safe.

With the weight of the other student pressing down upon her, Haruhi, although normally level headed, she was starting to panic. Did he take the blow meant for her? Did this mean he could die? Questions ran through her mind as she called out to her unconscious friend. It wasn't but a couple of minutes longer before she felt herself being lifted off of the ground and looked to see Nekozawa being rolled onto his back. "Senpai?" She called out to him, but he did not move.

"He will be alright Haruhi," Kyoya stated appearing next to his friend's side and instructing the body guard with just a look to put the girl down.

Startled, Haruhi turned and saw the Shadow King standing on her right and a small crowd of students start to appear. "He saved me," she said softly unsure if she was talking to herself or the Host Club's vice president.

"Come on Haruhi," Kyoya tried to pull the shocked girl away from the scene.

Shaking her head and trying to pull her arm away from her bespectacled friend, Haruhi denied him, "No, I should stay here and give a statement or something. I need to know that he is going to be alright."

Kyoya leaned down and spoke into her ear, "He will be fine. I am having him taken to one of my family hospitals. We will go and wait for him to get there. They won't let you ride in the ambulance and there are too many people around right now. You sound as if you are about to lose it, and although no one would blame you for that, Tamaki will arrive any moment now and I can hear the twins in the back of the crowd behind us. So now you either come with me now, or you have to deal with all of them."

Nodding, Haruhi couldn't say anything else. Kyoya was right and the last people she wanted to deal with now were the three most overprotective hosts in the club. She allowed Kyoya to lead her away from the crowd and the imminent danger of the Host Club king seeing her, or the twins getting to her. A few minutes later, Haruhi was put into a waiting car with Mori and Hunny while Kyoya returned to school, "Isn't he coming?"

"Kyo-Chan is going to do what he can to find out who did this and will probably ride with Nekozawa in the ambulance or come to the hospital shortly afterwards. He also has to tell Tama-Chan, Kao-Chan, and Hika-Chan why you will not be in class today," Hunny explained.

Seeing his friend stiffen, Mori patted her head, "He will not tell them the truth, but will give them an excuse."

Haruhi looked down at her hands, "Do you think he will be ok? He was only trying to help me."

The two seniors exchanged a look between each other before Hunny spoke, "I think he will be fine Haru-Chan."

"That bat was meant for me," Haruhi whispered, "Why would someone want me dead?" She squeezed her hands into fists, shaking with anger, "It isn't right! He didn't do anything wrong to anyone!"

Those few words told Hunny and Mori all they needed to know: the Host Club princess had fallen for the Dark Prince. This would affect the Host Club since others had feelings for her, but they made a silent promise to each other and to her… they would help her and protect her anyway possible and if that meant working a little magic to get the two teens together, they would do it.

**A/N2… From here on out, lots more Nekozawa and Haruhi togetherness. XD Hope you liked the chapter.**


	6. Hospitals and Clues

**A/N: I was actually going to take the day off from writing today and watch some anime (not that I don't watch anime on the days I write anyway, but you know.) However, there is a thunderstorm going on outside and everything is pitch black. For some reason thoughts of Nekozawa and Haruhi swirled in my head. What would he do for her during a thunderstorm? I had to write the next chapter for the story. XD Enjoy! **

Chapter 6 – Hospitals and Clues

Haruhi sat in the waiting room of the Ootori hospital waiting for word on her brave senpai. Nekozawa had put himself in danger so that she would not be hurt, and for that she would wait until she got word that he was going to be alright before she left the hospital. It was more than that though… On one hand she felt like she owed him for saving her life, but on the other hand she knew she had strong feelings for him and needed him to be ok. She needed him to wake up and lurk around the halls in the shadows watching everyone and everything. She needed him to laugh and smile at her when she went to visit Kirimi, and show her more of the side he never showed anyone else.

Bolting up from her chair, Haruhi started to pace as thoughts raced through her mind. She felt like her insides were raging and she needed answers. Someone had tried to kill her and got Nekozawa instead. She had not seen anything, but she heard footsteps following her. Knowing that it could have been her senpai, Haruhi closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds that surrounded her right before she had been pushed out of the way. The bat was aluminum and the person had to be less than ten feet away in order to make an accurate hit that would be hard enough to do major harm. In fact, whoever it was, had probably been even closer than that. If that was the case, why didn't Haruhi see anyone?

Hunny could tell that his good friend was out of sorts and trying to cope with everything that happened today. He also knew, based on the scowl she was wearing, she was trying to solve the mystery of who could have done this. The problem was, Haruhi had her back to the assailant and therefore probably didn't see who it was; however, Nekozawa had to have seen the danger and therefore the Black Magic Club president probably did see who it was. "Neh, Haru-Chan, Neko-Chan will be alright and Kyo-Chan will figure out who did this and he or she will be punished," Hunny tried to sound encouraging and optimistic, but even he knew that a blow to the head with a metal pipe was serious.

Mori knew what his shorter cousin was doing, but he also knew Haruhi. She had to figure it out for herself and think about everything logically, but he also knew that she needed to remain positive, "Mitsukuni is right. Nekozawa is strong and he knew what he was doing when he pushed you out of the way."

"It's just that, they have been back there for a while and shouldn't we have talked to someone by now?" Haruhi stated as she continued her pacing. "Why didn't I pay attention more? I should have seen who did this to him," Haruhi whispered severely to herself.

Hearing her last statement, Mori stood up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It came from behind. Even the most astute person in the world misses things sometimes. Nekozawa probably saw who it was, and when we find out who it is, that person will pay."

"Thanks Mori-senpai, Hunny-senpai. I know all that, but I keep thinking if I had been paying attention more, this wouldn't have happened," Haruhi mumbled embarrassed that Mori had overheard her chastising herself.

"No Haru-Chan. Whoever it was that did this would have waited for the right time to get you. You were lucky Nekozawa pushed you out of the way or it could have been a lot worse," Hunny stated plainly hoping his friend would understand that no matter how much she paid attention, something would have happened.

Haruhi was about to retort, but that is when Kyoya walked into the waiting room followed by the doctor. If anyone could get answers on the third year's condition, it was an Ootori himself.

"Haruhi, this is my brother Yuuichi. Mori-senpai, Hunny-senpai you remember my brother. Yuuichi is the doctor assigned to Nekozawa-senpai's case and will be monitoring him," Kyoya stated in a very matter of fact tone of voice. He knew to others he sounded all business, but in fact he was still upset about what happened this morning. If Nekozawa had not been there, Haruhi could very well be dead right now. The thought of that, and the thought that a friend was lying in the hospital right now due to some vendetta against Haruhi, was enough to shake up the Shadow King.

Nodding, Yuuichi cleared his throat before speaking, "Your friend was very lucky. He has a minor concussion and a bump on the side of his head. I just want to keep him overnight for observation."

"Can we see him?" Haruhi asked quietly. She needed to see with her own eyes that he was going to be alright.

Yuuichi glanced at his brother and received his nod, "You can, but you need to be sure to let him rest and I ask that you not talk to him about what happened yet."

"Ok. What room is he in?" Haruhi questioned anxiously.

Smiling at the girl in front of him, Yuuichi answered, "He is in 312."

"Haruhi, you go along, I just need to talk to my brother about something," Kyoya suggested holding back the other two seniors in the waiting room.

Haruhi didn't wait for the others and immediately took off. She had a feeling that Kyoya knew something about what happened this morning and didn't want to talk about it in front of her. She was fine with that for now, but she hoped that he would not keep her in the dark. Hopping onto the elevator, she waited for it to ding on the right floor and within moments found herself standing outside the door that would lead to her friend's room. Anxious to see him, she was finding it hard to actually enter the room. "Come on Haruhi. You two are friends and he saved your life. Go in and see him. Push your feelings for him aside and just act like you always have before," she mumbled her little pep talk under her breath.

Inhaling deeply and releasing the breath slowly, Haruhi opened the door and walked into a dark room with the only light coming from a small lamp on the other side of the room. "Well at least they got his lighting right," she sniggered before walking over to the bed and saw her senpai sans wig and cloak lying there with his eyes closed. To her, he looked so handsome and at peace and she found herself wondering what it would be like if he had feelings for her too, for him to kiss her, and for him to hold her in his strong arms. Sighing, she sat down in the seat next to the bed and tried to shake those thoughts from her mind.

"You know it is hard to sleep when someone is staring at you?" Nekozawa slowly opened his eyes and looked at the girl sitting next to him in her Ouran boy's uniform.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to wake you senpai!" Haruhi exclaimed as she jumped up in shock since she wasn't expecting anyone to talk to her.

"You didn't. Sit back down," the blond instructed with a small laugh, but stopped his chuckling when it made his head hurt.

Slowly returning to her seat, Haruhi examined the boy with her own eyes as best she could in the low light, "How are you feeling Nekozawa-senpai?"

"I am alright, or I will be as soon as I can get out of here. Thankfully Kyoya was nice enough to tell them that I cannot have the bright lights they insist on putting in each patient's room," he joked.

"That is good. I am glad he was able to do that for you."

"How are you Haruhi?"

"I am uninjured. I wish you weren't lying here in the hospital bed instead of me and that I wish I saw who did this, and that you could have been seriously hurt by stepping in," she blurted out before she thought about it as she took hold of his hand not aware that she had grabbed the appendage.

Laughing a little, Nekozawa studied his kohai, "Blunt as ever I see." He liked this feel of her smaller hand in his and never wanted to let it go.

Haruhi cringed a bit, "Ano, sorry senpai."

"It's alright Haruhi. I did what must be done."

"What do you mean?"

The Black Magic practitioner looked Haruhi searching for the right words to say. It seemed like several minutes passed before he spoke, but it was probably only a minute or two, "I didn't want to see you… hurt." He almost said dead, but substituted the word at the last minute. Before he could go on, three more people entered the room and he greeted the other hosts, "I am surprised that you are three short."

"Tamaki and the twins would make a mess of the hospital and I refuse to tell them anything," Kyoya stated before pushing his glasses up. Somehow even with the miniscule amount of light available in the room, he was able to make his lenses glare.

"You do realize Kyoya-senpai, that they will ambush us when we get back to school… some of us more than others. What do you propose we tell them happened? Surely they will know that Nekozawa-senpai was injured," Haruhi queried.

"I realize a lot of things Haruhi," Kyoya smiled noticing that she was holding hands with the injured blond.

Trying to remain respectful, Haruhi lifted an eyebrow in question, "So are we going to tell them happened?"

Kyoya's eyes flashed to Nekozawa and he saw a small shake in the other man's head and sighed, "We are going to tell them that Nekozawa-senpai tripped over a bat that the softball team accidentally dropped. You, Haruhi, saw the whole thing and being a close friend of the family, you wanted to make sure he was alright. It won't be odd to not see Hunny-senpai or Mori-senpai around too much during the day since they are both third years. That will cover your excuse. Since I was next to you when it happened, I offered you a ride to the hospital for a small fee of course."

Narrowing her eyes in a glare, Haruhi probed, "Are you really adding today to my debt?"

"No, but if we don't say something like that to them, they will be suspicious," Kyoya explained.

It made sense and she knew he was right, but that didn't mean she liked the thought of even pretending her debt was going up since it went up and down on the whims of the bespectacled teen. She felt a hand squeeze her own and looked down noticing for the first time that her hand was enveloped in the warm grip of the man she harbored feelings for. Blushing as she stepped back and reclaimed her hand, Haruhi muttered, "Fine, we will go with that." She realized she already missed the soft fingers that had held hers and gave her that reassuring squeeze.

The other three teens witnessed the way Haruhi reacted when she realized she was holding her senpai's hand and each had a different reaction. Mori wondered how she didn't know that she was holding someone's hand, and wanted to know when they were going to admit their feelings for each other. Hunny thought both Nekozawa and Haruhi were adorable in their reactions because even Nekozawa blushed some, but was a little sad that Haruhi would pretend like she didn't have feelings for the patient. Kyoya pushed his glasses up and knew that it was only a matter of time before those two ended up in a relationship together.

Yuuichi came in to check on his patient and noticed even in the absence of light, both Haruhi and the patient were red. He wasn't sure what happened, but they were embarrassed about something, and he wondered if it had to do with feelings. He had already known Haruhi was a girl because his younger brother told him, but for some reason he thought Kyoya had feelings for her because he normally didn't take an interest in commoners. As soon as he saw them together though, Yuuichi knew that it was just friendly feelings between the two teens. "I am sorry to tell you all this, but I need to examine the patient and you four need to get back to school," the eldest Ootori son declared.

Everyone nodded except for Haruhi. She wasn't ready to leave her senpai just yet, but she also knew that the doctor was right.

Focusing his attention on the girl, Yuuichi could see the indecision on her face and told her, "You can always visit after school, but Nekozawa-san needs his rest right now."

"Hai," Haruhi said and bowed, "Thank you Ootori-sensei."

Nekozawa watched the four hosts leave his room before he glanced at his doctor and found the other man watching him, "Is something wrong?"

"How long have you been dating Haruhi?" Yuuichi inquired and stepped forward to begin his examination.

"We… we aren't. She and I are just friends. She comes over to play with my little sister and that's it," Nekozawa responded not wanting to admit his feelings to another person.

"Oh? The way you two interacted and looked at each other, I thought there was something else going on."

"No, and there won't be. She belongs with the hosts," the teen whispered and the rest of the exam was performed in silence. Only when the doctor had left the room again did he let his thoughts wander back to Haruhi. "She is the light and I am the darkness, two different worlds that cannot be together," he told himself.

When they were back in the car, Haruhi turned on the other three, "So do you want to tell me what you found today?"

Chuckling, Kyoya nodded, "Very good Haruhi. I am having the bat dusted for fingerprints. No one saw anything, but I was able to question Nekozawa-senpai as soon as I got to the hospital and before I brought my brother out to see you."

"Did he see anyone?" Haruhi asked calmly. Her voice may have been steady, but what she felt was anything but peaceful.

"He saw someone, but did not know her. As soon as I have more, I will let you know, but it appears that we are dealing with a female student at Ouran, and no it is not Ayanokoji," Kyoya stated.

Haruhi was shocked. It wasn't that she wasn't expecting that, but to actually hear it was a little surprising. Why would a girl hate her so much as to try to hurt her? It just didn't make sense.

"Don't worry Haru-Chan! We won't let anything happen to you!" Hunny declared as he bit into a slice of cake he seemed to pull out of nowhere.

Ruffling her hair, Mori smiled down at his favorite female kohai, "He is right. We will make sure you are protected."

"Unfortunately my officers were not in the right places this morning for some reason. That problem has been rectified and you will be under surveillance from here on out," Kyoya told her with a frown on his face. He hated failure, but the fact that someone was hurt today made it worse.

"Did they see anyone?" She asked.

"Another vague description, but I am having the one guard that did see her comb through the pictures of current students at Ouran to find the culprit," Kyoya explained. Gazing at his friend, he could see that she was anxious and scared, but who wouldn't be in her situation? However, knowing her, she was more worried about others getting hurt. He knew it was not good for business, but he still did it, "Why don't you skip host club today and go back to the hospital after your last period. I will make sure you are able to leave a couple of minutes early so that the twins don't try to bombard you."

Eyes snapping to look at Kyoya, she tilted her head to the side to study him, "What's the merit?"

"Your head obviously isn't in it today and you have had a few shocks. That entitles you to a day off. Go to the hospital and see Nekozawa-senpai and you can come back to the Host Club tomorrow," Kyoya stated.

Haruhi smiled because she knew he really was a nice guy underneath everything. Nodding, she told him, "Thanks Kyoya-senpai. I think I will take you up on your offer."

"Haru-Chan, we will have our car waiting for you by the entrance so that you can make your get away!" Hunny giggled.

"Thank you Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai," Haruhi chuckled. She was feeling better already. Someone might still be out there to kill her, but at least she had friends at her side to make sure she survived everything.


	7. Enemy Number 1

**A/N: Well he woke and he is fine for the most part. I don't know that I could ever truly kill off a main character, but don't quote me on that because I might try it one day. LOL. I don't want to rush things between our hero and his damsel in distress, so if it feels too rushed, let me know. I was honestly wondering if people would like the story or not since it is a weird pairing, but you have put my fears at ease. Arigato for everything minna! Onward with the next chapter… ENJOY!**

Chapter 7 – Enemy Number 1

Failed? She failed? How could she fail? She was an expert marksman, she knew martial arts at her mother's request, she played softball, and she knew how to hit a target… and yet she failed today. It was like Nekozawa was waiting for her and knew that she was going to try to get Haruhi, but that isn't possible. There is no way he would be able to know things like that. Everyone knew their club was full of crackpots and people who thought that they could do magic, but that wasn't real. Magic wasn't real: dark, white, or anything else.

Sakura stood in the bathroom berating herself for her clear botched up job of dealing with Haruhi Fujioka. The target had been clear and there weren't a lot of people at the school yet, however, when Sakura threw the bat, something flew out of the shadows and crashed into the host sending him to the ground with a black specter on top of him. As soon as she saw that she had disaster on her hands, Sakura ran and it was then that it hit her… she had hit Umehito Nekozawa instead of the host. For some reason the Black Magic Club president saved Haruhi. The question of why still lingered in the air, and the answer was… she didn't know. Was Haruhi gay? Is that why he rejected her little sister? Is Tamaki gay, and is that the reason he tries to ply Haruhi with attention? Does Nekozawa have feelings for Haruhi? So many questions, but Sakura was sure of one thing: she would not let Haruhi win.

By the time the four hosts returned to school, lunch was about to come to an end and as they entered the luxurious building of the high school, they could all hear Tamaki wails for his daughter. Groaning, Haruhi shook her head and looked at her three seniors. She knew that asking Kyoya was out of the question, but the other two would help her, "Could one of you take me to class? I really, really don't want to have to deal with Tamaki right now, and I have a feeling that if he were to find me, I might be occupying a bed at the hospital also."

Giggling, Hunny grabbed his friend's hand, "Sure Haru-Chan. Takashi and I will make sure you get to class in one piece. Kyo-Chan, we will see you later." He was still laughing when he started to pull Haruhi down the hall to her classroom.

Before Mori could follow, Kyoya stopped him, "I am not sure who is out to get her and there could be another attempt on her life. Keep your eyes peeled. I still have people watching her, but we all need to stay alert. As soon as I have confirmation from my officer, we will pull the plug on any further schemes."

"We will. You know Haruhi has feelings for Nekozawa, don't you? That is why you let her off this afternoon."

"She needed the time. Someone is out to get her and today there was an attempt. Then she saw someone she has feelings for and considers a friend knocked out in an attempt to save her. I am surprised she is holding up as well as she is.

"Seeing him awake and talking to him, helped calm her."

"Now the question is does Haruhi realize that she has feelings for him or that he has feelings for her too?"

Mori smiled and shook his head, "I doubt it."

Chuckling, Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I think I have to agree with you. She needs the time away from all of this even if it is in the hospital visiting our unlikely hero. He didn't even want to be her hero and in the end, he was the person that came to our princess's rescue."

The taller man patted his friend's shoulder before following after where his cousin and Haruhi disappeared. By now, with the way Hunny was pulling her, they were probably already at her class, but he knew that Hunny would wait for him there.

Kyoya could still hear Tamaki shrieks throughout the hallowed halls of Ouran and cringed with each one. Sometimes he wanted to kill his idiot friend, but that was just who Tamaki was. Wondering if the twins were with their "king", the Host Club's vice president could hear the bellows getting louder and closer. Did he stay and wait for Tamaki, and possibly the twins, or did he make his way to his own classroom and deal with the trio later?

The choice was taken from him when he heard behind him, "KYOYA! MOMMY OUR DAUGHTER IS GONE!"

Sighing, the Shadow King once more pushed up his glasses and resumed his persona of indifference many contributed to him. When he felt Tamaki grab him and turn him around, he shook his head, "I happen to know for a fact that she is perfectly alright. She had a minor emergency, but I have talked to her and everything has been resolved."

"Oh thank goodness! Our sons and I were so worried mommy!" The blond cried.

Behind his best friend, Kyoya could see the twin redheads nodding in agreement with Tamaki. Rolling his eyes, he told them all, "She is fine and already in class." As he said this the bell rang signaling the end of lunch and for everyone to get to their next class.

"I must go and check on her. She will need her daddy right now!" Tamaki yelled and made to move past Kyoya when his collar was yanked and he yelped at the choking feeling.

"No, we have class right now and we cannot be late. You can see her later," the Shadow King ordered and began to drag Tamaki off towards their next class with him fighting and screaming the whole way. Of course Kyoya didn't tell him that later would in fact be tomorrow, but that was something the president could learn later.

Hikaru and Kaoru watched the spectacle and heckled their blond friend before looking at each other and in silent agreement moved towards their next class. Unlike Tamaki, the twins had the period after lunch with the female host and they would and could talk to her about her sudden disappearance this morning.

As they approached the class, they saw Mori and Hunny leaving, and although Hikaru and Kaoru knew that Haruhi was friends with all of the hosts, it was not normal to see the two senior hosts visiting with her in class. Glancing at each other, an unspoken communication passed between the two brothers… something was going on and they had an idea that it involved Kyoya, Haruhi, Mori, and Hunny.

"Kaoru?" Hikaru walked next to his brother as they got closer to the classroom.

"Yes, Hikaru?" Kaoru replied knowing what his brother was about to ask.

"What do you think is going on?"

Shaking his head, the younger twin answered honestly, "I have no idea, but you know…" He turned his grin on his brother and together they said, "But we will find out."

They were able to get to the classroom before the teacher made it in there and walked up to their best friend, "So Haruhi, why were Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai here?"

"Huh?" Haruhi looked up from her notes and blinked hoping that she projected an air of confusion at their question, "Oh, they were just asking me a question about a bakery they heard about near my neighborhood. Hunny-senpai wanted to know if it was any good because he didn't want to try it if it wasn't. You know how he is about his cakes."

They once again glanced at each other and shrugged. That would explain why the seniors were there because everyone knew about Hunny's cake fetish; but that still left the mystery of this morning. Kyoya had said it was a small emergency. Hikaru was the one that spoke first, "So what happened this morning? What was the emergency that you just had to disappear?" He knew he sounded a bit harsher than he intended, but that was the way he was.

Kaoru inwardly cringed at the tone of voice his brother used and hoped that Haruhi didn't take offence. Although, if he knew Haruhi, she would understand and brush it off for the most part, "You were here and then you were gone. We just want to make sure everything is fine."

"Oh, yah everything is fine. Apparently one of my friends was in an accident and they couldn't get my father since we are listed as one of the emergency contacts. So they called me and I had to make sure everything was alright, but it was nothing big," she stated plainly and shrugged before returning to her notes. She was praying they didn't see through her deception.

"You had the boss convinced that you were kidnapped by aliens or the yakuza!" They both laughed and soon heard Haruhi's laughter join theirs.

Shaking her head at the crazy ideas her blond senpai sometimes came up with, Haruhi chuckled, "Far from it. I am perfectly safe and sound. I will be taking off after class this afternoon though to help out, but Kyoya-senpai already knows."

Hikaru scowled, "So you won't be…"

"In club today?" Kaoru finished.

"No, I will be there tomorrow though," Haruhi answered them and once again looked down at her notes. With the entrance of their sensei, she knew that the twins would have to return to their seats and she could relax ever so slightly knowing her interrogation was over for now.

By the time the last class was coming to the end, Haruhi had never been more ready to leave school as she was today. She was worried about Nekozawa and the twins were giving her a headache; and she also knew that if she couldn't get to the limo before the last bell rang, Tamaki may find her and then there would be no escape. Thankfully, Kyoya arranged for her to leave ten minutes early, but she still felt she needed to run to the waiting car as if her life depended on it… which in some ways it did.

Diving into the car and hearing the last bell ring as they were pulling away, Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it and now she could go to the hospital and check on the patient. Butterflies were fluttering in her stomach as she thought about visiting her friend and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. The Dark Prince was a knight in shining armor under his dark wig and black cloak.

When the car pulled to a stop at the hospital, Haruhi didn't wait for the driver to open the door, she got out herself and made her way to room 312, excitement at seeing her savior bubbling through her. She finally got to the room and took a deep breath before knocking. When she heard the muted words of, "Come in", she opened the door and walked up to the patient who was lying in his bed sans wig, but at least the room was dark for him. "How are you doing senpai?"

"I am fine Haruhi. How are you?" Nekozawa asked looking her over and making sure she was intact.

"Well, no more baseball bats came flying at my head today," she chuckled a little at her joke.

Laughing with her, the patient smiled, "That is good. We wouldn't want you to get amnesia and lose your scholarship." He winced inwardly at how that could be conceived by the girl that had taken a seat next to him, but she didn't seem to understand his words and just laughed some more finding amusement in his teasing. Narrowing his eyes on her, he inquired, "Aren't you supposed to be in Host Club right now?"

Haruhi shook her head, "Kyoya-senpai gave me the afternoon off and said I could come here. I think he wanted me away from Tamaki-senpai and the twins since they don't know what is going on; that and the fact that Tamaki-senpai would probably go a bit overboard with the whole daddy act because I went missing this morning."

Nekozawa suspected there was more to the actions of the Shadow King of Ouran, but he wasn't about to say anything to the female host, "Tamaki does have a way of being extreme when it comes to some aspects." He wasn't about to admit his jealousy for the younger man and how the members of the Host Club seemed free to touch Haruhi as they wanted without consequence. Part of him wanted to shout that she was his, but he knew that was not true and that made him feel morose. He wanted her, but he didn't believe it was possible. They came from two different places in life, and he didn't mean their economic background.

"You can say that. It can get annoying, but he is a good friend. Luckily when he gets too carried away, Mori-senpai will help me."

He stared at her for a moment before the words slipped unbidden from his mouth, "So which one do you like?"

"Like?"

"Have feelings for? I can tell they are special to you when you talk about them." He didn't add that he could tell that the hosts had feelings for her as well.

Smiling, Haruhi shook her head, "None of them. They are special to me because they were my first friends at Ouran, but that is all they are. I actually have feelings for someone else." She had not meant to spill that last part. It was not a confession she wanted to make because she was sure he didn't want to hear it.

"None of them?"

"Well, at one point in time I might have harbored a small crush on Tamaki-senpai and Mori-senpai, but I knew those feelings were nothing that would go anywhere."

"And the feelings you have for someone else now…?"

"It is more just an innocent crush, I guess," she mumbled uncomfortable with the topic.

He wasn't sure why he was into punishing himself, but he still asked, "Who do you like?"

"It's not important."

"Are we not friends?"

"We are, but I am not going to tell you who I have feelings for. Sorry senpai, but that is a little too weird," she blushed and hoped that he did not see it in the dim light. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Does Kirimi know what happened? What about your parents?"

"My parents are out of the country, but they have been made aware. I have asked that Kirimi not be told, but she will probably figure something is wrong when I don't come home tonight."

"That is so sad."

Turning his gaze at Haruhi, Nekozawa probed, "Why is it sad?"

"Well, your parents aren't here and your hurt, and your sister isn't going to have you at home tonight."

"My mother is trying to get back as soon as possible, but it will be tomorrow before she arrives. If Kirimi knew I was in the hospital she would worry and it is not something I want for her."

Haruhi nodded in understanding and felt a squeeze of her hand. Looking down she realized that she must have grasp his hand at some point during their conversation. It felt warm and comfortable in her own, and she remembered how right it felt earlier that day when they held hands. The redness of her face increased, "I hope your mother is able to get here quickly."

"Thank you," he whispered. There may have been an absence of light in the room, but he could still see her sparkling eyes and knew that they were the deepest brown. He felt lift her hand to his face before he could stop himself and he brushed his lips against the palm of her hand barest and briefest of touches. He felt the shivers and smiled hoping it was a positive reaction to his gesture.

If Haruhi thought she was blushing before, she was on fire now. He only kissed her hand and now she felt like a puddle of goo. This wasn't good for her feelings because she was liable to spill the beans and make a fool of herself, but the thought entered her mind that he kissed the palm and not the back of her hand. Could he have feelings for her too? Shaking her head she dismissed that, but found herself unable to pull her hand away from him, "Umm, you're… you're welcome."

Back at school the Host Club was still in full swing, but Kyoya had someone standing at his table and they were talking in hushed tones. The vice president queried, "Are you sure?"

"Yes sir. This is the girl that threw the bat at Fujioka-san," the subordinate stated.

"Thank you. I will handle this from here. Haruhi is at the hospital now with Nekozawa. Go and make sure that she remains unharmed."

"Yes sir!" The officer stated and walked out of music room three in order to protect his employer's friend.

Looking around the room, Kyoya spotted the girl in question and murmured, "Sakura Seito, 2nd year class B, enemy number one."


	8. We Got Her

**A/N: Yay, Kyoya knows who it is… now the question is what will he do about it? What about Haruhi and Nekozawa? You will have to read and find out… Enjoy!**

Chapter 8 – We Got Her

Haruhi stayed with her senpai until visiting hours were over and the nurse was telling her to that she needed to go home. Part of her didn't want to leave, but she knew Nekozawa needed his rest, and still she hesitated, "Well I guess I will see you later senpai."

"Something wrong Haruhi?" Umehito asked quietly. He had yet to let go of her hand.

_"I believe I love you. I want you to love me. I don't want to leave you," _Haruhi thought, but refused to voice, "No, senpai. I guess…"

"You guess what?"

Shaking her head, she smiled and stood up, "Nothing senpai. Get some rest and I will see you when you come back to school."

"I won't see you tomorrow?" The thought of not seeing her after she had been by his side for hours seemed like a darkness that he didn't want to face, not now that he had spent so long with her. Part of him told him to let her go because she deserved more, but there was another part of him that told him to reach out and grab her.

"I'm sorry senpai, but you are getting out tomorrow and I don't feel comfortable coming to your house when someone is trying to… to… kill me. You have already been hurt once and I don't want the action to be repeated on you or your sister."

"I can understand that, but with your new security detail and the security at my family's home, I believe everyone would be perfectly safe."

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to take that chance. I will see you soon though. Good night," she stated as she stood up and moved to leave, but she was held in place by a strong hand grasping her and refusing to let go. She could feel her blush returning and she was fight to control her erratic heartbeat. Tears swelling in her eyes, she refused to let them fall just as she refused to look at him, "Is there something you needed before I leave Nekozawa-senpai?"

The two factions at war inside him, one toppled the other, "Yes, I need to tell you something. Please come closer."

His deep melodious voice drew her in and she found herself turn to face him and took one step closer to the side of the bed, "What is it?"

Waving her closer, he waited until she was close enough before he leaned up and kissed her. He could her gasp of surprise that left her lips and deepened the kiss. He only pulled back when the nurse returned and reminded Haruhi once again that visiting hours were over. Brushing his fingers over her cheek, he whispered before releasing her, "I will see you soon Haruhi."

She felt like she was in a trance and was just going through the motions as she nodded and brought her own fingers up to touch her lips. Finding that they still tingled, she was directed out of the room by the insistent nurse who didn't even allow her to ask what just happened.

As she exited the hospital, Haruhi's arm was grabbed and she would have screamed, but a hand covered her mouth before a voice sounded in her ear, "We need to talk about your stalker." She knew voice and nodded before turning her head and seeing the one and only Shadow King next to her.

"You know Kyoya-senpai, if you needed to talk to me so urgently, there are better ways to get my attention besides making me think someone is about to kidnap me," she grumbled trying to concentrate on what he was say and push the kiss she just shared with Nekozawa out of her mind.

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya chuckled, "No one could kidnap you. I have too many men watching you. It would be impossible."

"Your ego knows no bounds," she muttered under her breath before forcing a smile to her face, "What about my stalker?"

"Get in the car and we can talk there," he gestured towards his waiting limo and followed her into the vehicle.

"Ok, we are here and the door is closed. What happened? Did she try to attack again?"

"The man assigned to you that saw the perpetrator was able to identify her, yes. No, she did not attack again."

"Did you lock her up?"

"Not yet. An eye witness statement is good, but she could use the excuse that she was just in the area, not that she threw the bat. I am getting the security footage from today sent to me and I should have the results of the finger print analysis any moment now. The more proof we have, the better our case. You should know that much by now Haruhi."

Haruhi glared at her friend. He was right… she should know at least that, and she did, but she was also worried about another friend getting hurt because someone was out to get her, "So who is it?"

Kyoya glanced at his friend and studied her for a moment before answering, "Sakura Seito."

"Isn't that one of Tamaki-senpai's customers?"

"It is. So I need to ask you, besides the obvious why would she have a grudge against you?"

"She is a lunatic?"

"Think about it Haruhi. I am sure jealousy plays some role because from what I can gather she fancies herself in love with our prince. He showers you with attention…"

"Unwanted attention!" She proclaimed.

"Regardless, he does shower you with attention whether you want it or not, but he has been doing that for months since you came into the club. So my question is what sent her over the edge?"

Placing her finger against her chin, Haruhi started to think of everything that happened in the past few weeks that could have sent her over the edge and nothing came to mind, "I don't know senpai. Does she have any siblings or anything?"

"One sister, Atsuko Seito, class 1B. She used…"

Haruhi interrupted again, "She used to be one of my regular customers." She suddenly sounded tired and shook her head.

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya studied the female host, "Yes, about two weeks ago she stopped coming to the Host Club. What do you know?"

"She confessed to me. I told her that although I thought she was a wonderful girl, I didn't feel the same way about her. I said I hoped that she found someone that could be everything she deserved in a man, but I was sorry that it wasn't me. It is my usual spiel when someone tries to tell me they like me and wants to go beyond our host/customer relationship."

"What was her reaction?"

"She cried and told me that she understood and she hoped that I found love with a girl who was deserving of me."

Kyoya ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "That must have been the trigger that made her snap."

"Why? I didn't reject her, I rejected her sister."

Chuckling, Kyoya stared straight into her eyes, "You don't have siblings so you may not understand, and while I cannot confess to having certain protective feelings of my brothers, I am close to my sister and would do anything to make sure she was happy. I would protect her and do what I could for her. When you see your sister cry, it can be like a knife to the gut and you want to get retribution on her behalf against whoever put the tears in her eyes. Another example is when Nekozawa-senpai jumped out the window into the sunlight to protect Kirimi. I can imagine that is what caused Sakura to finally snap."

"So this is my fault?" She asked incredulously balking at the idea.

The vice president tilted his head to the side in slight confusion, "Not at all. I am merely trying to explain the relationship sisters can have in someone's life. This is still her doing and completely wrong, but if I am right, then her sister being rejected was the final trigger she needed to go…"

"Completely bat shit crazy?" Haruhi snapped. She felt like she was partly to blame for this situation, but how many other countless females had she declined and none of them threatened her life, and none of their siblings showed up throwing baseball bats at her head.

He really hated to be interrupted, but she did have a point and it was Haruhi, "Yes that is one way of putting it."

"So do I need to worry about the other girls I have rejected?"

Snickering, Kyoya shook his head, "I believe you are safe from them. Right now we need to worry about the one that is currently out to get you."

"What do I need to do?"

"Nothing right now. I have already contacted your father and he is working late tonight, so I have made arrangements for you to stay at my house. I am not sure if Sakura knows where you live or not and I would rather not take the chance."

"I thought no one could get to me due to your excellent security," Haruhi stated sarcastically.

"They can't, but as I said, I would rather not take the chance and my home offers a lot more security than yours."

"I would rather not have my debt increased," she argued.

Smiling, he quirked an eyebrow, "Who said anything about adding to your debt?"

"That is what you usually do."

"I didn't add to it earlier today. I am not adding the cost of the security detail to it. I am also not adding tonight to it."

Her jaw dropped open and she was a little shocked. Clearing her throat, she spoke, "Sorry Kyoya-senpai. I know you are a good guy, I am just…"

It was his turn to interrupt, "A little overwhelmed by everything? I understand, but please don't question me further or I will add it to your debt. Now, I have already been by your house and your father packed you a bag. You have a clean uniform for tomorrow and all of the necessities for tonight and in the morning."

Nodding, she inwardly thanked whatever deity that Kyoya hadn't taken greater offense. "So when will you confront her?" She inquired wanting to know when her life would be her own again. At that desire, thoughts of the kiss and Nekozawa flooded her mind.

Kyoya noticed the slight flush on his friend and watched as she brought her hand unconsciously up to her mouth. Had something happened today between her and the Black Magic Club president? "As soon as I have the security footage and the finger print analysis completed, she will be taken care of."

"You know she needs help, don't you?"

"Ah Haruhi, thinking of others as always… I know she does and I will be arranging a deal with the police for a quiet stay in the Ootori Hospital's mental ward. That is, if she is willing to take it. If not, then I cannot promise what will happen to her, but I can tell you that she will not bother you again."

"She is sick senpai, and that is the only reason I said that. Her behavior is not normal."

Grinning, Kyoya chuckled, "You will make a fine lawyer one day Haruhi."

"Um, thanks senpai."

"I have a question for you, and I want you to answer me truthfully. Consider this payment instead of adding to your debt."

"Ok, what is it?"

"How long have you been in love with Nekozawa-senpai?"

Haruhi turned into a beacon of bright red, "Ano, h-how did you know?"

"I am very observant; you should know that by now."

"I do know. I am not sure when it happened, but I think sometime after I started to go over to his house to see his sister," she answered truthfully.

"What happened tonight?" He pried further.

She shifted her eyes to look out the window and whispered, "Nothing. I am sure it was just the head injury and he was happy someone came to see him since his mother won't be back until tomorrow."

Furrowing his brow, he observed his kohai and it looked like she was about to cry. It wasn't his place to talk about another man's feelings, but there was something in her eyes that told him, she really believed that whatever happened meant nothing, "What happened?"

"Nothing senpai. I would just like to forget it for now. Ok?"

He noticed that they were pulling up to his house, but before his driver could open the door, he told her softly, "Sometimes what we think is the most unlikely possibility is the most likely workable scenario."

Haruhi smiled as the door was pulled open, "Thank you senpai." She got out of the car first and then followed Kyoya inside.

After he got Haruhi settled in the guest room closest to his, Kyoya opened his lap top. He had received the fingerprint results and there were only one set of prints on that bat, Sakura Seito. Just as he was closing the report, he received an email with the security footage he had requested. Apparently their novice assassin didn't think about the cameras that were located around the school. It clearly showed her throwing the bat at Haruhi. Noting the time, he smiled. The security team at Ouran had gotten him the video feed 12 hours earlier than anticipated.

Pulling out his phone, Kyoya made one last call that night, "I have the proof and we are ready to move in tomorrow. She typically arrives at school 30 minutes early and grabs a latte in the cafe before her first period class." He hung up without another word and shut down his computer. After a quick text to the bedbound patient about the latest news, he decided he would go to bed. Tomorrow would prove to be interesting if nothing else.

Haruhi had fallen asleep that night thinking about the kiss, her feelings, and what Kyoya had told her. Could it be that he was telling her to confess to Nekozawa? As she thought about it, she wondered, _"What could it really hurt if I told him the truth? If he feels the same, then that is good. If not, well it isn't the end of the world and we could hopefully still be friends." _She dreamed of her mysterious friend as she closed her eyes.

Morning came too soon for both teens, but they both managed to get up and get ready for school on time. Haruhi was still tired from the thoughts swirling in her head half the night; and Kyoya was never a morning person. As they left for school, Kyoya turned to his friend, "She will be picked up this morning. My evidence came in earlier than expected."

Blinking, Haruhi smile slowly appeared on her face, "Really?"

Kyoya nodded, "Yes, I received the security footage and the finger print analysis back last night. After the arrest is made, you are free to live your life of a commoner without a security detail as you once did."

She couldn't take offense with her friend because she understood how he was in the morning and she was just too happy about the news; plus she knew he didn't mean any true offense. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders was easy since he was right next to her, and she ignored the stiffening posture as she hugged him, "Thank you Kyoya-senpai for everything."

"You are quite welcome Haruhi. Please refrain from getting into further trouble in the future," the Shadow King told her as he pulled out his phone, but smiled nonetheless at the girl seated next to him.

They arrived at school 40 minutes early and there was a man standing at the front of the school in a suit waiting for Kyoya. After bowing to each other, the vice president made the introductions, "Detective Tanaka, this is Haruhi Fujioka. Haruhi, this is Detective Tanaka. He is the one working the case, and he is a good friend of the Ootori family."

_"You mean inside man and ally," _Haruhi said to herself and plastered on her host smile, "It is nice to meet you. I didn't realize that a detective was assigned to the case since everything just happened yesterday."

"Kyoya called me and my captain and the case fell into my lap," the officer smiled at Haruhi before turning to Kyoya, "Do you have a place set up where we will be able to talk in private with her?"

"Yes, there is an empty room that isn't being used right now in the third year wing. That will get us far enough away from the prying eyes of others and allow you to discuss the terms of her arrest," Kyoya responded.

"Do you need me for anything?" Haruhi asked wondering if she should just go to her classroom and wait.

The Shadow King nodded, "I want you to come with me to the cafe." He was making a calculated move that would ensure that Sakura would be labeled as a lunatic and forced out of Ouran. Even with the evidence he had, the best lawyers knew how to make deals and could brush evidence under the rug. They could also say that it was planted. However, if he could get Sakura to threaten or attack Haruhi in public, then it would be the final nail in the coffin.

Following her friend to the coffee bar in Ouran, Haruhi took a seat at a table and waited. It was only a few minutes later than her adversary arrived and walked over to her table slapping her across the face just as Kyoya was returning with coffee for both of them. Haruhi held her stinging cheek and questioned, "What was that for?"

Sakura had been surprised to see Haruhi at the coffee bar and she lost it. Seeing only red, she marched up to Haruhi and slapped him. He was the one that was supposed to be in the hospital or six feet under, not Nekozawa. "You bastard! I don't care how long it takes, but I will kill you!" She seethed and wrapped her hands around Haruhi's throat and started to squeeze. She was pulled off by someone behind her as she watched Kyoya kneel down beside the enemy.

"I think you need to come with me now," the detective spoke softly in Sakura's ear.

"I don't have to do anything except kill that little pretender!" The female second year screamed before she saw the badge that was placed in front of her face. Then it hit her. She had been made.

Kyoya's plan had worked, but it might have worked too well. Helping Haruhi to sit up, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Gripping her throat, she nodded and in a raspy voice said, "I think so, but it hurts."

"Let's get you to the infirmary," Kyoya smiled and lifted her off of the ground setting her on her feet.

"I will take him, you can go with the detective," a voice offered from beside them.

Haruhi and Kyoya both whipped their heads around to see Nekozawa standing there. Kyoya bowed his head grinning, "I will leave him in your hands senpai."

"Nekozawa-senpai?" Haruhi felt like she had to be seeing things because there was no way he was there and not in the hospital. It was true he was supposed to get out today, but it was too early to be released… wasn't it?

The Black Magic Club president could see the confusion in Haruhi's eyes and smiled. With the help of Kyoya and his brother, he was out of the hospital a few hours earlier than expected and he was able to witness the exhibition of Haruhi being attacked. There was something that had wanted to filet the girl alive for touching someone as sweet and innocent as Haruhi Fujioka, but he left it to the others for now. This, however, didn't mean there wasn't something planned for Sakura Seito when he recovered and could perform his incantations again. She had attacked the wrong host.


	9. Busted!

**A/N: Sakura is sick and she needs help… per Haruhi. LOL. I don't know why I like writing villains that are a little unbalanced, but aren't most bad guys? Nekozawa is out early and escorting Haruhi to the infirmary. What about the other hosts? What is going to happen to Sakura since Kyoya will be attending the interrogation. Tsk tsk. And Nekozawa isn't done with the girl yet. Well on with the story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9 – Busted!

Nekozawa and Haruhi walked side by side towards the infirmary. Arms brushing each other periodically, but they told themselves it was because even though the hall was not crowded people were walking too close to them. That had to be the reason; however, both hoped it was more than that.

The one thing on Umehito's mind since Haruhi left the hospital the day before was that kiss. It had felt like lightning traveled through his body when his lips touched hers. The way her soft lips moved beneath his charged him all the way to his very soul, but how did it make her feel? That was the question he didn't know the answer to, and if he did know he wasn't sure he would do anything about it. He didn't want to pull her into the same darkness he had to live in.

Like her cloaked senpai, Haruhi could not stop thinking about the kiss. It felt magical, and then she inwardly laughed when she described it as such. If Tamaki had heard that one, he would have gone ballistic thinking that Nekozawa had cast a spell on her. It wasn't a spell, it was so much more, but did the kiss mean the same thing to him? She had almost convinced herself that he had done it because he wasn't in his right mind from his head injury… almost. If that was the case, why was he here now? He could have gone home to rest. Why was he escorting her? He could have gone down to his club room. Then the next question gave her pause. Could darkness and light coexist together? She wasn't sure, but she was willing to try.

When they reached the infirmary, Nekozawa opened the door for Haruhi and explained what happened. The nurse immediately ushered Haruhi to a bed, and just as he was about to leave her there, a small hand grabbed his and a raspy voice pleaded, "Please don't leave." Haruhi had decided to take the jump.

Nodding, Nekozawa stayed by her side as the nurse and school doctor checked her out. They deemed her alright, but she would need to rest her voice and throat today. No damage was done. However, just as they were finishing up, three teens entered the infirmary and rushed to the female host's side. The Dark Prince was pushed/pulled out of the way by the interlopers.

"Haruhi! Haruhi are you alright?! Speak to me!" Tamaki wailed as soon as he ran in and pulled her into his arms in a bone crushing hug.

"Boss, you got to let her go, she is turning blue," Hikaru commented and waited for the blond to release their friend before he continued, "The whole school is talking about it."

Kaoru finished explaining, "How one of Tono's customers attacked you."

"Are you alright?" The twins asked simultaneously.

With the sudden appearance of the other three hosts, Nekozawa had been reminded of his place in Haruhi's life and it wasn't by her side. He knew the three hosts present had feelings for the girl and she was more likely to choose one of them instead of him. Making his way to the door, he glanced back one time and saw Haruhi watching him with what looked like surprise tinged with sadness in her eyes, but he had to be imagining that. He walked out the door after that and closed the door behind him. Haruhi was the only one that noticed.

"Wasn't Nekozawa-senpai here?" Hikaru and Kaoru inquired together several minutes later and looked around the room, but did not see anyone else so shrugged it off and continued to bombard their friend.

The nurse did not like the sudden appearance of the three, as she labeled them, troublemakers. She knew who they all were, but this was an infirmary and they were being too noisy and had no decorum. She had also seen the way Umehito Nekozawa left and the stricken look on the girl's face when the door closed, but her friends didn't. Oh the nurse knew, as well as all of the staff at Ouran, that Haruhi was really a girl. They didn't know why she was dressing in the boy's uniform or posing as such, that was her business, but they all knew her gender secret. Clearing her throat and trying to get the boys attention didn't work, so she had to get loud, "Will you three please be quiet. This is the infirmary and you should act as you would in a hospital. Barging in and causing problems is not proper decorum!" When she noticed she had their attention, she continued, "Now Fujioka-kun will be fine with some rest. You three need to get to class."

"If it is all the same to you, I will stay with my little girl," Tamaki smiled trying to charm the nurse as he would anyone else.

Quirking an eyebrow, the nurse put her hands on her hips and stared him down, "No. You three will go to class before you are late and you will not come barging in here like some heathens."

"But I am her daddy and I should be allowed to stay with her!" Tamaki tried again.

The twins looked at each other and then at the nurse, "And she is our toy, so we should be allowed to stay too!"

"Let me put it this way… If you three don't get out and get to class, I will call the Chairman personally and see to it you are removed by force if necessary," she smiled sweetly.

The three hosts gulped and grabbed each other. They looked at Haruhi and then the nurse, but they weren't sure what to do. None of them wanted to leave their friend, but they also didn't want the Chairman to be called.

Rolling her eyes, Haruhi croaked, "Go to class. I will be fine."

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki were unable to hide their cringe at the sound of her voice. She sounded like she had swallowed a frog and they could see the bruises on her neck in the shape of fingers.

Sighing, the nurse knew what they were seeing, "I assure you your friend will be fine, but you need to go to class. Fujioka-kun will return to classes this afternoon if up to it. If not, tomorrow. I have already received word that Kyoya Ootori has officers that will guard Fujioka-kun until he is out of here."

They knew at that point they didn't have a choice, and if Kyoya found out that they caused a scene, they would be in even bigger trouble. As scary as the nurse was right now, she had nothing on the Shadow King. Finally they left with the promise that they would come by at lunch to visit Haruhi.

"Well, now that they are gone, go ahead and rest for a while," the nurse smiled at her patient.

Nodding, Haruhi lie back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She was the only one in the infirmary so far that day and it was quiet. She could periodically hear the nurse and doctor talking or moving around, but for the most part, it was peaceful and silent, and she could do nothing but think about certain senpai that wore a wig and cloak to hide himself from anything having to do with light. Turning over onto her side, she closed her eyes and sighed… he had just left this morning without another word.

Kyoya wanted to check on Haruhi, but knew she was in good hands with Nekozawa and the medical staff at Ouran. The problem wasn't that, it was the fact that several people had seen what happened that morning and would be talking about it. The talk would probably reach the ears of three hosts that had no clue something had been going on right under their noses, which could undoubtedly lead to trouble and headaches. Right now though, he was focused on the girl sitting across from him and the detective. He looked at his watch and shook his head. He had wanted to be done by now, but the girl had insisted on calling her parents and her parents called a lawyer. Her father and the lawyer were sitting on either side of her.

Detective Tanaka began, "Seito-san, we have proof that you tried to do bodily harm to a fellow student with a bat. Your fingerprints are all over it. We also have video feed of you throwing the bat, and this morning you tried to kill that same student by choking her."

"I tried to choke him. I know he looks feminine, but get it right if you are going to accuse me of something. That dog doesn't belong amongst us and needed to be taught a lesson. He should go back to where he came," she sneered.

The lawyer spoke up, "Be quiet!"

"No, you shut up! I will say whatever I want to," Sakura retorted.

"So you don't deny trying to attack Haruhi Fujioka," the detective stated plainly.

Narrowing her eyes and glaring at the men on the other side of the table, she spat, "Of course not. That commoner denied my sister. He should have been happy that someone would even give him a second glance at this school. I could handle it when he tried to take my Tamaki away, but how dare he make my sister cry! Tamaki loved me and showered me with his attention before that commoner came. Then when he came, Tamaki started to pay more attention to him… calling him 'precious daughter' and such; but when my sister confessed and he callously denied her… well he needed to be taught a lesson. Don't you agree Kyoya-kun? I know how you feel about commoners. I can't believe that you would allow one into the Host Club. The hosts are gentlemen and don't need to associate with riff raff."

Kyoya pushed up his glasses and his voice was pure ice when he talked, "You apparently don't know a thing about me, but I know a lot about you. There are some things you need to know. Tamaki never looked or treated you different than any of our other customers. Haruhi felt bad for declining your sister, but there really wasn't another option because **she** is interested in someone else. That's right, Haruhi is a girl and you tried to kill her. She also is not interested in girls, but she is interested in a certain fellow student that is not in the Host Club. She is also a very good friend of mine and I don't appreciate people trying to kill my friends. I also know that your family has a history of mental illness, but they brush it under the rug for no one to find. They will soon be doing the same to you." He could see that her father was about to interject himself into this whole conversation, "Seito-sama, we have evidence, and I also know what is going on with your own personal business. I would stay quiet if I were you." He turned back to Sakura, "You have two choices here: you can go to jail for your crimes or you can get treatment at an Ootori hospital in the mental ward."

"I'm not mental, I am right!" Sakura screamed.

"The only reason we are not hauling you off to jail right now is because Haruhi requested we get you help," Kyoya growled.

The detective added, "He is right. I have enough with your confession to put you away for a long time. You were read your rights and your lawyer is sitting right there. I have enough proof to put you away for two counts of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and let's not forget the threats you have made against Haruhi Fujioka. I am sure we could add hate crime and harassment to it since you keep making derogatory remarks about her socioeconomic background. Then there is disturbing the peace because of your behavior this morning. The proof is stacked against you. It is either jail or hospital. It is your choice."

"You can't make me. My lawyer will make this all go away," she snarled.

"Some of those charges won't stick," the lawyer stated.

Nodding, Detective Tanaka agreed, "You're right, but the major ones will. We are offering your client a chance to stay out of jail. You know as well as I do, the assault and attempted murder will stick, and I know the hate crime one will to when I play a jury this tape of her spouting her hatred towards Haruhi. Haruhi is also a girl and comes from a lower class background, it will add to the sympathy the jury will have for her."

The lawyer turned to his clients, "Take the deal."

"I am not crazy!" Sakura yelled.

Her father sighed, "We will take the deal."

Laughing maniacally, Sakura snapped, "You can't make me do anything!"

"Actually, you are under age and as such, I can accept on your behalf," her father stated. If he had known this had been going on, he would have gotten her help soon, but he hadn't; and now as he looked at her, he could see the crazy look in her eyes. She had lost it.

"A wise decision. We will keep this as quiet as possible. I have a car that will take your daughter to the hospital where a team is ready to admit her as we speak. I also have a doctor at the ready to help… calm your daughter down if she is not willing to go quietly," Kyoya explained. He turned to the detective and nodded.

Tanaka placed a piece of paper in front of the girl and father, "This is her acceptance of the deal." He placed another one in front of the father, "This is your consent to the deal and to get her treatment." One final piece of paper, "And this is for her to write her confession, but if she refuses, we have it on tape so it doesn't really matter."

"The doctors will monitor your daughter and will treat her. She will not be allowed visitors for the first couple of weeks. Due to the severity of what has happened, she will be locked away for at least a year, but the doctors will have the final say about her treatment plan and length of stay. Next, you will remove her from school here. You can say she is going to a different school or that she has gone away for whatever reason. It is up to you, but if another attempt is made on my friend's life, I will see to it that everyone knows what happened," Kyoya smirked knowing no one could argue with him in his situation.

"Thank you for allowing us to preserve some of our dignity in this," Sakura's father said.

"Dignity? You are making me go away to a hospital and you call that dignity? I was helping your other daughter, my sister!" Sakura bellowed.

The Seito patriarch's face was turning red, "You tried to kill someone because you don't like her!"

"A useless commoner! There are enough of them and she will be replaced soon enough," Sakura scoffed.

A dark aura started to emanate from Kyoya and his words were controlled ice, "I would watch your words if I were you Seito-san. Haruhi Fujioka is a personal friend and more than just a host in the Host Club. Unlike you she did not worm her way into the club or try to find a rich husband. She is not fake and she is not the monster you portray her to be. She worked hard to get into this school on her own by scholarship. She maintains her top seat in the class because she wants to succeed and become a lawyer by her own merits, much like her deceased mother before her. She has ambition, but it is not to find the easy road and marry rich. It is to succeed and fulfill her childhood dreams by working hard. You should also know that she is personal friends with Umehito Nekozawa, and he has, let's just say, fond feelings for her. In addition, the other hosts in the Host Club count her as a friend and she holds a special place in all of their hearts. We would all do what we could to protect her from harm."

It was the last part of the speech that shut Sakura up. Haruhi was friends with the Black Magic Club president? Her face drained of color and she started to shake in her seat. Bringing her arms up, she tried to rub feeling back in her extremities as she suddenly felt a bone chilling coldness engulf her. It wasn't that she completely believed in what the Black Magic Club could do, but she had seen enough from Nekozawa to know that she could very well be in trouble. Suddenly, she couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't even make a sound… she was a statue frozen in fear.

Smirking, Kyoya stood up, "I will let the doctor know you are ready to go to the hospital." He exited the room and informed the necessary people that it was time to take Sakura Seito to get help. With that done, he made his way to the infirmary to check on the victim of this morning's attack.

As Kyoya approached the door to the infirmary, he saw Nekozawa staring at the doors from the shadows across the hall. "I am sure Haruhi would like to see you if you want to go in senpai," Kyoya stated simply as he walked up to the cat worshipper.

"That is what Beelzenef said too," Nekozawa chuckled.

"What happened? I thought you escorted her to the infirmary."

"I did, but she seemed overwhelmed when Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru…" the Dark Prince was interrupted there.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kyoya shook his head, "You can stop right there. I am sure I can imagine what happened." He glanced at the other man, "Still, I think she would be happy to see you if you came back in."

"I should probably just go home and rest. Will you tell her…?"

"Tell her what senpai?" The second year probed when his senpai did not continue.

Nekozawa shook his head, "Never mind. Take care of her Kyoya." He turned and started to walk down the hall and could be heard saying to his puppet, "Well, it is obvious to me that Tamaki and the others have feelings for her. That is who she should be with."

Kyoya studied the other man until he had completely disappeared and then he entered the infirmary wondering what could be done. Haruhi was usually so dense that she didn't comprehend when people had feelings for her, so she probably didn't realize that she had caught the attentions of the Dark Prince. Nekozawa was so afraid that Haruhi couldn't or shouldn't be with him and that she should be with another host, that he was walking away from his opportunity. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could do, but he knew two people that could help him, and maybe the Shadow King could play matchmaker one time… there would be merit after all.


	10. Spell Casting

**A/N: Yay! Sakura is being locked away and will not be able to hurt Haruhi again. Now we just need to get Haruhi and Nekozawa together. This might be hard because of the hosts, but Kyoya is going to play matchmaker for them. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 10 – Spell Casting

"So as you can see, we need to do something about this situation. Nekozawa-senpai is giving up before he even gets started. When I checked on Haruhi, she seemed a bit… odd," Kyoya told the two seniors who were meeting with him in the music room. The other members of the group had already left for the day.

Frowning, Hunny nodded, "She did seem out of sorts today during Host Club. I thought for sure she would miss today after what happened this morning. She just wasn't as happy as she usually is. I know Haru-Chan doesn't always seem like it, but she does like being here and she smiles while she's here. Today she looked sad and kept sighing. I don't think she was really paying attention to the customers at all, and that isn't like her."

"It isn't. What do you think happened between them?" Mori inquired.

"What makes you think something happened, Takashi?" The shortest host probed.

Mori watched Kyoya look at him as well with a questioning look. If he didn't know better, Kyoya suspected something as well or the bespectacled teen wouldn't be so concerned. Smiling a little, the tallest host knew that the Shadow King cared about his friends even if he wouldn't admit it. The vice president may claim he is doing this for merit, but if he didn't care, he wouldn't be trying to help the two star crossed lovers. Shaking his head, Mori told them, "They both seemed oblivious before, and now they are both acting like nothing ever happened or that anything was ever between them. They were blind before and going on as friends that longed for each other but didn't think the other one could care about them, and now they are avoiding each other. Something happened while Nekozawa was in the hospital, but the question is what happened?"

Thinking about the night before and when he picked Haruhi up from the hospital, Kyoya remembered her walking out the door in a daze and her hand was… brushing her lips. It clicked at that moment what could have possibly happened and wondered again why Nekozawa wasn't going to take the initiative. He pushed his glasses up and sighed, "I think they kissed."

"They kissed? That is so kawaii! But Kyo-Chan, if they kissed, why is he pushing her away?" Hunny questioned.

"He thinks she needs to be with one of the hosts instead of him, and doesn't think they belong together. The nurse told me that Nekozawa-senpai was there this morning, but when the idiot three ran into the room, he made his exit," Kyoya explained.

Mori thought about it for a moment, "You know Tamaki and Hikaru have feelings for her."

"I think Kao-Chan does too, but he won't do anything because of Hika-Chan," Hunny added.

"So the dilemma is not only do we need to find a way to bring our Host Club princess and her would be prince together, we have to distract three possible suitors that she doesn't want," Kyoya spoke his thoughts aloud.

Narrowing his eyes, Hunny stated, "Tama-Chan isn't one to understand things immediately. It takes him a little bit. Hika-Chan is the jealous type and therefore can be unpredictable. Kao-Chan will let her go and be happy because he has already done that for Tama-Chan and Hika-Chan. What are we going to do about Neko-Chan though?"

"And there lies the problem Hunny-senpai," Kyoya told his friend.

**_Haruhi's Apartment…_**

Haruhi inwardly cringed as the limo she was riding in came to a stop. She didn't have the energy to fight with Tamaki and his puppy face when he offered her a ride home today. Oh she had tried to tell him no, but then the limo followed her a few feet and instead of putting her foot down, she stopped and huffed before getting into the car. After what had happened that morning, she just didn't have any fight left within her, and honestly she was just ready to get home and crawl into her bed. However, she knew as soon as the limo stopped what would happen and she was right.

Getting out of the car, Haruhi turned back around to give her thanks to her friend when she saw him getting out of the car. She shook her head and tried to be firm, "Sorry senpai, but my dad is probably home and I need to take care of some things. You don't have to walk me to the door."

"But Haruhi! We didn't get to see each other much yesterday and this morning you were in the infirmary. I feel it is my duty as your father, to make sure you are safely ensconced into your apartment before I leave. Besides, your father will want to see me. We're building our relationship!" Tamaki declared, or more like whined.

The female host scoffed at that. Her father hated Tamaki with a passion and thought he was useless and not worth her time or effort, Ranka's words not Haruhi's. Keeping the two similar men apart was best for everyone concerned, well probably all of Tokyo. "Look Tamaki-senpai, thanks for the ride, but I can manage up the stairs and into my apartment on my own," she snapped. She just wasn't in the mood to deal with him or his antics, and the last thing she wanted was for him to come upstairs and start a fight with her father. It only took one stupid remark and her father would be flinging the blond teen around the room like he was nothing more than a sack of flour; and it always took her senpai less than three minutes before something stupid came out of his mouth... she had it down to a science.

"Haruhi, I really feel it is best if I escort you up the stairs and into your home. You had to go to the nurse's office today and who knows what will happen to you if you try to climb those treacherous stairs on your own."

"I managed on my own at school, and there are more stairs there than there are here," Haruhi deadpanned.

Tamaki sweat dropped. He needed to come up with an excuse fast. How was he supposed to get on her father's good side if they were never around each other? It was imperative that they build their relationship for Haruhi's sake. The president knew he needed it to happen, "No. My precious daughter needs to know when to accept help and when it is ok to be independent. I will be helping you up the stairs. Daddy just wants to make sure his little girl is alright. Please?" He glanced at Haruhi after his declaration and found that she nowhere near him, and was in fact about to start climbing the stairs thus leaving him behind. He ran to catch up to her and accidentally tripped. Reaching out to steady himself, he grabbed onto the first thing he could, which was Haruhi's pant leg, causing the girl to lose her footing and hit her knee on one of the steps.

"OUCH!" She yelled and turned around to glare at her blond friend. Through clench teeth she snarled, "Go home senpai! Just leave me alone!" Limping up the remaining stairs, she made it to her apartment and quickly ran inside. She knew she was a little harsh, but really he didn't have to try to follow her and it was because of him that Nekozawa had left that morning. Which brought her to her other irritation… her crush and the man that kissed her, had left and never returned. She tried to call him and text him, but they went unanswered.

Feeling like a bad person, Tamaki crawled back into his limo on the verge of tears and pouted, "I hurt my daughter and now she hates me. I am a horrible father. How could I do that to my precious girl?"

In the apartment, Ranka was surprised to hear the door open and close so soon. He wasn't expecting his daughter for another thirty minutes to an hour. "Haruhi you're home a little early," he called from the bathroom.

Walking towards her room, she saw her father putting on his make-up, "I caught a ride with a friend." She set her bag in her room and came back into the kitchen calling out as she walked by, "Will you be home for dinner?"

"A friend? Which friend? Was it that lovely Kyoya? As for tonight, I'm sorry, but daddy won't be home. A few of us are going out for dinner and then drinks. I will be home late…" he tapered off his explanation when he saw his daughter. There was something about her expression that gave him pause. Her brown eyes were always so expressive, even when she was trying to hide her emotions, "What's wrong?" Setting down his eye shadow, he walked into the kitchen and placed his hands on Haruhi's shoulders, "Did something happen at school? Did that moron Tamaki try to assault you again? Maybe we need to talk to Hunny and Mori about teach you self-defense. They are so wonderful, I am sure they would do it for you!"

"Nothing happened and no, he didn't."

Ranka chuckled and brushed the bangs out of Haruhi's eyes, "You know, you are a lot like your mother. She didn't like to talk about things when they were bothering her either, but in the end, she would always feel better after she spilled. So do you want to tell me what happened?"

"I am just having an off day. I will be fine," she forced a smile on her face and turned around to start making tea. She didn't want her father to worry, but she also didn't want to tell him about what was going on right now.

The Fujioka patriarch knew that his daughter wasn't going to talk and knew there was also no way to force it out of her. Maybe he should call Kyoya and find out what he knows. However, the only thing he could do for now is be there for her when she was ready to unburden herself. He would hold her when she cried, if she cried, and tell her that everything was going to be ok… and then he would get the address of the person responsible for making his daughter miserable from Kyoya and make sure the punk knew never to do it again! "Well, I am here if you ever want to talk," he grinned and pulled his daughter in for a tight hug.

"Too tight dad!" Haruhi swatted at her father to let her go and when he finally did, she gulped in deep breaths of air. It was scary how much alike he was to Tamaki.

"So adorable!" Ranka shouted before he returned to completing his face. Once that was done, he was out the door with a quick goodbye and another hug for Haruhi.

Sitting in the empty apartment after her father left, Haruhi was alone with her thoughts and they all centered around a certain blond cat worshipper. What did she want to happen? What was she going to do about it? She didn't know the answer to the second question, but she did know that she wanted him as more than a friend. She wanted him to kiss her again, and she wanted him to not run away from her. Narrowing her eyes, she knew of one thing she could do and smiled as she picked up her phone and dialed a phone number, "Hi Kirimi. It's Haruhi."

"Nee-Chan! When are you going to come see me again?" The little girl shouted into the phone excited to talk to one of her favorite people.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe I could come by after school tomorrow. I know your brother is still recovering, so I thought you and I could bake him some cookies or something," Haruhi grinned.

Squealing, Kirimi immediately accepted, "Yes! Can we put them in the shape of cats? Okaa-san is home too, so can we make some for her too?"

"Yes, we can."

"YAY!"

The female host laughed happy that she could bring the little girl some joy, "So, I will see you tomorrow after school, and let's not tell your brother anything. We will let the visit and the cookies be a surprise."

"OK!"

"I will talk to you tomorrow then."

"I will see you tomorrow nee-chan. Don't forget me!"

"I won't Kirimi. I promise I will be there," Haruhi swore before she got off of the phone. Well at least this way, she might get a chance to talk to the man she had feelings for. He couldn't avoid her forever.

**_Nekozawa Estate…_**

"Well Sakura Seito, I have just the thing for you. Don't worry though, the curse will only last a couple of weeks or so," Nekozawa chuckled as he started to stir ingredients into a small cauldron. Once everything was added and a faint blue smoke could be seen, he recited the words his book gave him, casting the curse that would be a small reminder that she shouldn't have tried to hurt Haruhi.

Thinking about the girl he was so in love with, he wondered what she was doing. Was she recovered from being choked that morning? She had said that she didn't have feelings for anyone in the club, but she did have feelings for someone. Who could it be? Then he remembered the kiss and how their lips moved as one. When he deepened the kiss and his tongue swept inside her mouth, she had not tried to pull away, but it had seemed as if she wanted to get closer. Was it him? Surely not. Besides, he wasn't what was good for her, true? Maybe… maybe he could talk to her though next time he saw her.

**_Ootori Hospital, Mental Ward…_**

Sakura lay in the bed she was in and shook. Eyes were closed tightly so that she couldn't see the images that started to haunt her mind. Spiders, bugs, blood, floating eyes that followed her were all over her room. They weren't there before, but they were there now. Her ears were covered to stop herself from hearing the screams of people. Why were they screaming now? Did something happen after dark that she didn't know about?

She wasn't supposed to be here and now she wanted to get out. She was terrified and felt like she was losing it, and she had only been there less than 24 hours. What was happening to her?


	11. A Storm Rages

**A/N: When I was writing the last chapter, I figured if Nekozawa knew who the villain was, he would curse her and I had to include it. LOL. I also think that once Haruhi is able to reason through everything, she would at least have a clue that our fave Dark Prince would have at least some form of feelings for her, and if she did, she just might take matters into her own hands. Now the question is will it counteract what Kyoya, Mori, and Hunny are going to do, or will they strike before she has a chance? Enjoy!**

Chapter 11 – A Storm Rages

"Did you send the text to Kyoya?" Mori asked his short cousin when they were in the car on the way to school the next day.

Hunny hugged his bunny as little tighter and giggled. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a small child dressed in a high school uniform, but for the people that knew him he was a deadly weapon and could be just as serious as the others in the Host Club. In fact, he was more observant than people gave him credit for… he might even rival the Shadow King. "I did and he said that he would make sure that a room was available. It really is perfect and it was a lucky break for us, ne Takashi?"

Nodding, Mori smiled, "It was."

A chime sounded in the car and Hunny looked down at his phone, "Kyo-Chan said that we need to meet him in the music room when we get to school." The short blond boy was excited to get their new plan underway and was bouncing in his seat unable to sit still, "Ano, Takashi, what do you think the others are going to do?"

"I don't know Mitsukuni. I would hope that they would be mature about this, but I just don't think Hikaru and Tamaki have it in them to do that just yet. Maybe after they see how happy she is."

"Yah, I think you might be right," Hunny sighed a little sad for his friend. Haruhi deserved happiness and to be with the person she wanted to be, she didn't need others dictating to her or pretending to be her daddy. This was definitely going to be something to remember before they graduated.

With the car coming to a stop in front of the doors to the high school, both martial arts masters hurriedly made their way to the club room. They were sure that the vice president of the Host Club just wanted to talk about what they were going to do in order to pull off their grand scheme. Arriving, they found their friend already typing away on his laptop. It was early for him, but upon occasion he found it within him to rise earlier than normal; still all in all it was some sort of miracle and for that reason both Mori and Hunny both had raised eyebrows.

"Will you two stop staring? I got Hunny-senpai's text and couldn't go back to sleep because it was only 40 minutes before my alarm was set to go off," Kyoya snapped. He was not a morning person and just because he was awake and arrived early did not mean he was in a good mood. No ladies were around so he saw no reason to act like he was happy to be there early.

Giggling again, Hunny bounded over to him and sat in one of the chairs while Mori went into the kitchen to get his charge a little snack. When he returned and sat down, Kyoya shut his laptop. It was time for the meeting to begin.

"I have asked you both here to discuss how we want to proceed with this new bit of information. I believe, as I am sure you do as well, that this can be used for our benefit and will move our plans along nicely. Now, I have been tracking everything and according to websites and my own calculations, everything will hit before lunch, or more precisely in fourth period. I have secured a room for our purposes. What I recommend is that to be safe, we put them in that room for both third and fourth period. With your agreement, I will contact Haruhi's instructors and inform them that she students will be missing. I can get Haruhi and you two will be in charge of Nekozawa. I will call him and inform him that there have been some interesting developments with the case and I need to talk to him in person. You two can meet him and bring him to the room. What do you think?" Kyoya filled them in on the plan he came up with.

"I think it is perfect Kyo-Chan!" Hunny exclaimed.

Mori looked thoughtful for a moment before he inquired, "What about the necessities?"

"I have thought about that too and I will make sure the room is well equipped before we incarcerate them," the Shadow King replied with a hint of devious smirk on his face. He really did like plotting sometimes.

Again the tall host thought about it and then questioned, "What are we going to do about Tamaki and the twins?"

"Tamaki and I do not have third period together, so he will not notice I am not there. I do believe Haruhi is in with the twins during third and fourth period, but when they see she is with me, they will more than likely try to keep their distance. I will also create a diversion and make sure they are occupied. The fact that they are members of the Host Club does have some benefits when needed," Kyoya chuckled.

Smiling, Mori agreed, "It does. We will greet him and take him to the meeting spot."

Hunny grinned, "And if he asks why we are there, we will just tell him that you had something last minute and will meet him at the room a couple of minutes late."

"Exemplary! I will tell Haruhi that I need to discuss her debt in private, the case, and about some other club matters. She will probably balk at the timing and request we talk later, but if push comes to shove, I can be very convincing," Kyoya's smile looked more like a sneer and it was a bit menacing.

Gulping at the minacious expression, Hunny sweat dropped and Mori deadpanned before the shorter man stated, "I am sure you can Kyo-Chan."

They finished discussing their plans, and Kyoya told them that the room was on the second floor near where the third and first year buildings met. The plan was simple… after second period, the three men would lure their prey to the room and then the Host Club princess and the Dark Prince would be locked in for a couple of hours. Nekozawa would have no choice but to help the girl and they would not be able to run away from each other. There was no escape because if they thought about climbing out the window, well it was a slight drop from the second to the first floor. Hopefully in their forced imprisonment, they would talk and work things out amongst themselves… or the trio was willing to step in again and force them to face their feelings in a significantly more blunt and impetuous manner.

After second period, Mori and Hunny went to pick up Nekozawa, while Kyoya headed off in the direction of the first year building. Surprisingly, when the two seniors went to meet the dark arts practitioner, he went willingly and without question.

Kyoya had a little harder time with Haruhi, but he had expected that and was prepared, "Haruhi, there are a few things I need to discuss with you: this case, your debt, and Nekozawa-senpai. If you do not come with me, I will be forced to increase your debt." Gazing over Haruhi's shoulder, he could see Hikaru and Kaoru starting to approach and he reached into his pocket to hit a button. Suddenly cellphones were lighting up and girls were screaming as they rushed towards the twins.

Scrunching her brow, Haruhi looked behind her, "What's happening with them?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Kyoya smirked before turning his attention back to the girl in front of him, "So will you come and talk to me. I have already arranged it with your sensei." Stepping close, he whispered in her ear, "Plus, there is a storm on the way. Do you really want to stay in class when the storm hits?" He knew he had her then.

Haruhi's shoulders tensed and she cast her eyes upon the row of windows in the room. Everything still seemed to be sunny outside. Was there really a storm coming? She knew herself how quickly the weather could change suddenly when a storm system moved in, and she did not want to be in the middle of class when it hit and have to deal with the people. However, was Kyoya really offering to comfort her in her time of need? She thought that was highly unlikely, but she would rather take the chance with him than deal with the storm and a class full of students, "Fine, I'll come, but this better be good."

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya smiled deviously, "Oh it is, I can assure you of that."

Hunny and Mori arrived at the room first and led their captive inside. There they waited until the door opened and Kyoya and Haruhi walked in. With the pretense Hunny needed to talk to Kyoya before the meeting began, he asked him, "Kyo-Chan I really need to talk to you about something first. Sorry Neko-Chan, we will be right back. Can you keep Haru-Chan company for a couple of minutes? Thanks!" The bunny loving senior jumped out of the room with his loyal friend following closely. The door closed behind them and there was the distinct sound of a lock turning. Moving to the music room so that they would not get caught in the hall, they made their way through the halls and hoped their plans were not in vain.

"Kyoya, will others be able to hear them if they start to yell?" Mori probed.

"No, the room is sound proof since it used to be a practice room for music students. Now it is more storage. There is only one window which will limit the amount of the storm Haruhi sees and hears. Nekozawa-senpai will still have to comfort her, but it might minimize the effects of the storm since we all know how bad her fear is," Kyoya explained.

Giggling, Hunny declared, "You thought of everything Kyo-Chan, but what about their cell phones?"

"I have Haruhi's here. She didn't notice me taking it out of her bag. I will return it to her at the end of the day. If anything happens at home, Ranka is most likely to call me if he cannot get in touch with Haruhi, and even if he can, he will still probably call me. As for Nekozawa, I had help from Kirimi. I called her and told her what we were going to do and she was all too willing to take the battery out of his phone so that it won't work. I was going to use a signal blocker, but Reiko told me to call his sister. Apparently she was scrying this morning and saw our little scheme and insisted on helping. The signal blocker would affect more than just the room, and Reiko said Kirimi wants her brother and Haruhi to end up together. It turns out Reiko was right and Kirimi was very excited about the prospect of getting her brother and 'nee-chan' together," the vice president stated.

Hunny held onto Usa-Chan a little tighter and queried, "Reiko did that for us?"

Kyoya wanted to say that he believed she did it for the loli shota host, but he kept those words from escaping, "She did." He was also not going to bring up that Kirimi helped, it was more than obvious where Hunny's focus was at the moment.

Nodding, the shortest host spoke softly, "She isn't all bad, is she? I mean she is into the cursing and black magic and everything, but she isn't all bad." He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked up to see his best friend smiling down at him.

"No, she isn't and if Haruhi and Nekozawa are willing to try, then other people can too," Mori encouraged his cousin. He knew that Hunny was starting to have feelings for the strange first year, but was put off by the curses and such. Of course it didn't help that the person Reiko was trying to put a spell on was Hunny himself.

"She was also the person who informed Nekozawa about the danger Haruhi was in. She didn't need to do that. I know she has been a little 'in your face' with her tactics, but I believe she has a good heart and isn't sure how to proceed with her feelings," Kyoya added. He also knew of Hunny's feelings and he seemed to be in a romantically giving mood lately; however, not so giving that he was going to help Tamaki and Hikaru get the girl of their dreams… if he did that, all of his work with Nekozawa would be down the drain, and he hated wasted plans.

Hunny smiled, "She was the one who helped, wasn't she? Maybe I can talk to her while Takashi is at his kendo meeting this afternoon." He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but maybe he could approach her and thank her for everything she has done for them. It would be a start at least.

"I think that is a good idea Mitsukuni," Mori assured his cousin and then glanced at Kyoya, "Don't forget, we will be fifteen minutes late today."

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Kyoya nodded, "I remember senpai."

Hunny started to think… something was on his mind and bothering him, "Kyo-Chan, how did you get Haru-Chan away from the twins?"

Kyoya chuckled, "I have a database set up for all of the students in Ouran. I created a text alert that would go out to all of the first year girls that told them the twins were feeling a little lonely and wanted to find true love by kissing the girls and finding the one that sparked for them. Needless to say, it caused a bit of a stampede on them and I am afraid that the period might have gone down the tubes for all of them. By my estimation, this will also increase traffic into the club by 12% and thus increasing profits."

Mori and Hunny both sweat dropped and knew that Kyoya was a master of getting what he wanted no matter what. He could manipulate and use all available resources (which were significantly more than either you or I, dear reader), and he would win in the end. They had always known never to cross the Shadow King, but this proved it: he had made Hikaru and Kaoru's life hell with a few clicks of a few buttons. It was torment in the guise of a Host Club promotion. They both wondered if the twins had done something to their vice president to warrant such action, but then they stopped… of course the twins did something, they were notorious tricksters and loved playing jokes. This was definitely not only about a distraction, but about retaliation.

Forcing a small laugh, Hunny leaned a little away from Kyoya from where they all sat in one of the sitting areas, "That was a super idea Kyo-Chan." His voice was a little shaky, but no one seemed to comment on it.

Back in the room where our main characters were locked, Haruhi pounded on the door to try and get someone's attention, but no one came to their rescue. She looked in her bag for her phone and found it missing. It wasn't that she minded the company; however, this was not what she had planned. Her plan involved baking with his sister after school and getting the little girl on her side. It was not to be locked in the room with her crush as a storm rolled in; for she did believe that part of Kyoya's tale was at least accurate. The sunny sky was starting to get spotted with dark clouds and more were moving in. She spun around to look at the other person in the room with her. He was standing as far away from the window as he could and kept to the shadows. Clearing her throat and hoping she wasn't blushing, she inquired, "Do you have your phone senpai?"

"It is of no use. The battery has somehow disappeared from it without my knowledge. I know it was working this morning and that I had a full charge, but when you were pounding on the door, I noticed that it was off and wouldn't turn on. When I pulled off the backing, there was no battery," Nekozawa answered and wanted to face palm because he knew he was rambling.

"Oh, ok. Well, it looks like we are stuck in here then," she commented trying not to be nervous, but between her the feelings the other man invoked in her and the approaching storm, it was virtually impossible. She didn't even want to question the missing battery because when it came to Kyoya and his plans, he had people everywhere who would and could do anything for him.

Nekozawa had a feeling when the two senior hosts had approached him that they had something up their sleeves and he still went along with it all; he even had that feeling earlier when Kyoya called him, but he ignored it. Gazing at the girl before him, the cat worshipper had mixed feelings right now. On one hand, he was irritated that someone would do this to them, especially when he had made the decision to stay away from this girl. On the other hand, he was thrilled that his friends would take it upon themselves to get him and Haruhi together because he really did care for her. Standing there looking as she fidgeted and pushed her hair behind her ear and gazed at him with those large brown eyes that reminded him of pools of dark chocolate, he couldn't help but admit that he loved her and it was so hard to stay away from her. After today… after this, he didn't know if he would be able to do that. "Yes, it does appear that way. Beelzenef does not know of a way out of here and neither do I. This room isn't used any longer and not many people venture this way since it is the long way around to get to the other buildings and classes."

"Oh," she nodded. She was currently locked inside a room with the one man she had feelings for… what was she going to do? What did she want to do? "Kyoya-senpai told me that a storm was coming and I can see the clouds coming in."

Eyes going wide, Nekozawa studied the girl and could see the slight tightening of her lips and the tenseness in her shoulders. He knew about her fear just as the hosts knew about it, but he found out when she came over one day to play with Kirimi. His little sister burst into his room crying and screaming saying that Haruhi was hurt. She wasn't, the female host had just been frightened… that was the first day he ever held her, and although it was awkward, it was an experience he will not soon forget, "Are you alright Haruhi?"

"Well the storm isn't here yet, so I am ok."

Now it made since why this particular room had been selected. It was made as a practice room for the musicians and thus the sounds coming inside or going outside would be muffled, plus with only one window it limited how much she would see. He had to applaud Kyoya for his thoughtfulness. The conspirators were probably counting on the storm and her fear knowing he would have to comfort her. Did he dare take the chance?

Haruhi decided it was now or never. She needed answers and if he did not feel for her the way she felt for him, she would step back and only be in contact with his sister. Straightening her shoulders, she gave one last glance outside before she faced him, "Senpai."

At the same time, he made his decision, and spoke softly, "Haruhi."

They both snickered nervously and Nekozawa being a gentleman (even if he practices black magic, he still has manners), he let the lady go first, "Go ahead Haruhi."

The way he said her name gave her chills and she forced herself to go on, "I know that there have been some issues the last couple weeks and the way Tamaki and the twins came bursting into the room yesterday might have seemed like I had…" She was making a jumble of it and took a deep breath, "What I mean is… you asked me if I had feelings for one of the hosts and I told you it was someone else."

"I remember that," he replied. He could feel his heart speeding up.

"It would stand to reason that the person I wanted there yesterday is the person I had feelings for, would it not?"

"Yes, it would. It is logical that although you might want your friends, you want the person that you love beside you more."

Nodding, she continued, "So why did you leave?"

Was that a confession? Did she mean that she didn't want him to leave? Nekozawa took a step forward, "I thought that since you had your friends there, I would be in the way and there would be too many people there. The nurses don't like a crowd in the infirmary."

"She would have sent Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru away for being noisy, you didn't have to leave."

"Did you want me there Haruhi?"

"I… I," she paused again to get her speeding heart under control. She wished she could see his eyes under his wig, but the room was cast in shadow where he was and the bangs were too long. Taking a step towards him, she tried again, "I wanted…"

Both teens had stopped where the line was drawn between the light from the window and the shadows of the room; a line that separated them, well at least in one of their minds. Light and darkness could not seem to live together jointly, but is that really true? Without light there would be no shadows and there would be no way to tell what darkness really was; it would have no meaning in our world or language. The same thing goes for the darkness in regards to light. They have to live together in harmony just as yin and yang; one cannot be without the other. So in that sense, wouldn't Haruhi and Nekozawa be perfect for each other? She is a princess of light and he is a prince of darkness: yin and yang.

Reaching his hand up, the Black Magic Club president grazed her cheek with his fingers and saw the hint of pink increase in her cheeks. He couldn't stay away because every time he tried, something brought them back together. Whispering, he asked, "What did you want Haruhi?"

Haruhi could see his eyes under the dark hair and told him in soft, gentle tones, "I wanted you to be there with me yesterday morning, to stay with me and not leave."

Before he knew what he was doing, Nekozawa had leaned forward and brushed her lips with his. He next words were a caress against the soft lips Haruhi possessed, "I wanted that too."

In the next instant, the soft brush of lips upon lips turned a little harder as the kiss became real and not a mere ghost of a kiss. Nekozawa pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. Haruhi's arms hooked around his neck, pushing the hood of his cloak off of him along with his wig so that she could feel his silky blond strands. She didn't mind either item because that was part of who he was and she understood his fears, she had some herself, but right now, she needed Umehito without all of his trappings.

The kiss lasted until the first loud rumble of thunder made its way into the room. Although it was muffled significantly, it still reached poor Haruhi's ears and she jumped. Unfortunately since she had been kissing Nekozawa when it happened, his tongue was bitten and his head knocked; which didn't feel very good as he was still recovering from a bat knocking him out a couple days prior.

"S-sorry senpai," Haruhi rushed to help the other teen to the floor so that he could sit down. She felt horrible for what she just did.

Pulling the girl of his dreams into his arms as he turned to face away from the window, he held her tight and tried to comfort her as best he could with a throbbing head as she shook. She was trying to apologize and put him at ease, but he smiled and kissed her again to shut her up. When he ended the kiss, he noticed an mp3 player on the desk and thought, _"Kyoya can be an asshole, but he thought of everything."_ He put the ear buds in her ears, cranked up the music, and brushed his fingers through her hair in an effort to sooth her.

The storm didn't last long, but the new couple didn't move from their position until they heard the lock being flipped on the door after the bell rang signaling the end of fourth period. Slowly they stood and found six heads pop in. Haruhi face palmed, she was not expecting to see Tamaki and the twins when she was given back her freedom. Grabbing the hand of the man next to her, she braced herself for impact.

"Haruhi! Daddy was so worried about you with the storm and everything! What are you doing in here with Nekozawa-senpai? Oh don't worry. Daddy is here now and he will take care of you!" Tamaki shouted and pulled her into his arms swinging her around the room.

"Let her go boss!" Hikaru ran up to Tamaki and tried to pull Haruhi out of the blonde's embrace.

Kaoru grabbed her arm too and started to free her from their president, "Yah, Tono. She is our toy and we were worried too."

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HER ALL TO YOURSELF!" The twins exclaimed together.

Stepping forward to help save the female host, Mori was held back by Kyoya. He glanced down at his bespectacled friend and was given the signal to wait a moment. Both sets of eyes fell on the cloaked figure in the room to see what he would do about the situation.

"Actually, all three of you need to remove your hands from my girlfriend," Nekozawa stated calmly, but there was a note of steel in his voice.

Three hosts whipped their heads around and screamed, "GIRLFRIEND?"

**A/N2: ok, hope you don't mind, but I decided to add a little side romance with Hunny and Reiko.**


	12. It's Not a Threat, It's a Suggestion

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews. I'm glad you liked the light and darkness comparison. It was what I had in mind when I started thinking about those two together and came up with the title. Now, what a way to announce your current relationship status. LOL. Now what will happen? Well let's look at it with math… Tamaki + Hikaru + Kaoru = TROUBLE, with the possibility of an unknown integer of Haruhi with a demon aura. Oh and let's not forget that Kyoya would not like all of his planning to be for naught. I realized it had been a while since I wrote an inner mind theatre, so I had to include one in here. Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 12 – It's Not a Threat, It's a Suggestion

Three hosts whipped their heads around and screamed, "GIRLFRIEND?"

"I'm sorry, but I seem to have misheard you. I think I still have water in my ears from when I went swimming. It always seemed to happen around you and your sister," Tamaki chuckled trying to pretend he had heard wrong. He really didn't think that little Haruhi, the Host Club's secret princess, would choose Nekozawa over one of the hosts, and him in particular.

"Water! That's what it is!" Hikaru laughed and started to hit the side of his head.

Kaoru shook his head at their antics. He knew he hadn't been swimming lately, and neither had Hikaru… unless his brother was sneaking out without him knowing, and that just wasn't possible. Face palming, the younger of the twins looked down at the girl in the middle of him and his twin and Tamaki, "Haruhi?"

Through their shock, the grip of the three on the girl had decreased significantly and she was able to pull herself free before fleeing to the cloaked teen's side. Lacing her fingers with Nekozawa, she glared at the three hosts that seem to want to control her life the most, "Actually, you didn't hear wrong and I doubt you still have water in your ears." Haruhi paused for a second and hoped that the man standing next to her didn't mind the liberties she was about to take, "Umehito-senpai is my boyfriend."

Nekozawa was a little surprised hearing his first name on Haruhi's lips, but he really liked it and didn't think he would ever want to hear Nekozawa from her again. He glanced down at her and smiled squeezing her hand as they waited for the others to regain consciousness; for after Haruhi's announcement, Hikaru and Tamaki gasped and froze. Their souls floated out of their bodies and they fell to the floor in a heap.

Kaoru was sputtering and not really saying anything of consequence; however, when he finally regained his senses, he stepped over the lifeless bodies and marched over to the Shadow King and two seniors of the club, "You three had something to do with this, didn't you?" His tone wasn't exactly argumentative, but it wasn't exactly a simple inquiry either.

"Not really Kao-chan. They already liked each other and so it didn't take but a small push. Haru-Chan was going to have to be comforted during the storm anyway, so who better than the person she loves most!" Hunny finished on a giggle.

Looking over his shoulder at the new couple, he could see Haruhi blushing at Hunny's words and he returned his focus to the people in front of him, "A small push senpai? You locked them in a room together for a couple of hours!"

"We had to do something Kao-Chan!" Hunny defended their actions.

Kyoya decided he needed to step in and explain. Adjusting his glasses, he stated, "Actually Hunny-senpai is correct. Due to your unintentional interventions yesterday, Nekozawa-senpai was ready to set aside his feelings for Haruhi and walk away. However, this was not acceptable since Haruhi also has feelings for him, and you saw how she was in club yesterday… I could not allow that to continue, so with Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai's help, we came up with a plan to at least allow them to talk. It appears the plan worked."

Opening and closing his mouth like a fish, Kaoru was shocked. Did Kyoya just admit to helping Haruhi and Nekozawa because they liked each other?

"They're right. Haruhi and Nekozawa had feelings for each other. No one should stand in the way of that," Mori declared.

Haruhi rolled her eyes, "It isn't like I didn't have a plan of my own. I had every intention of confessing to him tonight."

"WHAT?" Tamaki and Hikaru had revived enough and were regaining consciousness when they heard that and rushed to their feet.

"Interesting Haruhi. Maybe, we jumped the gun a bit then," Kyoya smiled as he pushed up his glasses.

"You were?" Nekozawa inquired ignoring the yelling coming from Hikaru and Tamaki.

Nodding, Haruhi grinned, "I had already called Kirimi and I was going to come over tonight so that we could bake cookies for you. I mean I am still coming over because I am not cancelling on your sister again."

Tamaki had had enough of this crazy talk and grabbed Haruhi's forearm in an attempt to pull her away from the creepy teen at her side, "No! I forbid this relationship! He must have put a curse or something on you like Reiko keeps trying to do to Hunny-senpai!"

"Oh please! Reiko is trying to get Hunny-senpai's attention and those are love charms, not curses," Haruhi muttered and tried to yank her arm back, but Tamaki was not letting go.

Hikaru joined in the tugging contest and grabbed Haruhi around her upper arm, "You cannot possibly be in love with him! He is all about the darkness and shadows! He must have ensnared you with a spell!"

"There was no spell. You need to let her go!" Nekozawa demanded.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Haruhi yelled refusing to let go of the connection to her new boyfriend in her right hand.

"NO! Not until you are past this nonsense young lady!" Tamaki shouted.

A black shadow started to form and flow out of Haruhi. She was fed up and had enough. Knowing they were both afraid of the three demon auras of the Host Club, she let her's loose, "Let go of me!"

Both Hikaru and Tamaki let go and took several steps away from the girl. Stammering, Tamaki told her, "N-N-Now Har-Haruhi, d-daddy is only t-tr-trying to p-protect you."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I want to be with him?" Haruhi glared.

Puffing out his chest and standing tall, Tamaki declared, "You need to be with someone who can appreciate you and not try to control you with spells and curses."

Hikaru not one to back down from a fight decided to have his say also, "He is creepy, can't stand the light, always goes around in a cloak and wig, talks to a puppet, and practices black magic! Boss is right: you should be with someone else. He isn't good enough for you!"

"You don't know anything about him! He isn't creepy. There are a lot of people in the world that don't like bright lights. Tamaki-senpai you grow mushrooms and Hikaru you have never really acknowledged anyone beyond your brother before this year. Both of you are a bit socially inept, so you have no right to talk about him. He loves his sister and was willing to give her up to Tamaki-senpai so that she would be happy. They have worked through that and he is a great big brother. I have seen it first-hand many times. You want to talk about him practicing black magic? Hikaru you pretend to be in love with your brother. Tamaki you practice your wooing techniques on the girls in the host club without ever intending to seal the deal! I have been over to Umehito's house at least once a week since Kirimi came into the club. I have gotten to know the man underneath the cloak and the wig. Both of you should know that appearances can be deceiving and that you should never judge another, but I guess you never learned that lesson. You like to judge others, but not yourselves, and you know what… that's fine, but don't expect me to follow those same rules. Everyone should be equal and not looked down upon for differences they may have. I am truly disappointed in both of you. If you will excuse me, I need some air," Haruhi let go of the hand she was holding and exited the room.

"Haruhi and I got to know each other and that is when feelings developed. You were wrong to infer otherwise. I have tried to stay away from her because I thought one of you might have been better for her, but I am not giving her up and I will not let you two stand in our way. Beelzenef and I would rather not take drastic measures, but we will if we need to," Nekozawa laughed holding up the cat puppet on his hand.

Hikaru, Tamaki, and Kaoru gasped in fear. Did that mean he was going to curse them? They didn't want to be cursed!

"Is Neko…? Oh, I am sorry to be disturbing you," a girl with black hair stopped just inside the door, "I was looking for Nekozawa-senpai."

"What is it Reiko?" The Black Magic Club president inquired of the newcomer.

Noticing Hunny in the room, Reiko blushed and lowered her eyes, "I saw something else. Where is Haruhi?"

Nekozawa's heart immediately started racing, "Is there danger? Is something wrong?"

Shaking her head, Reiko looked at her leader, "No, but in one month, by the end of the Ouran Fair, everyone will know that Haruhi is a girl. She will attend the ball in a dress." Moving her gaze to Tamaki and the twins, she tilted her head to the side. She pointed at the blonde, "You need to be wary of family alliances." Her finger moved to the twins, "You two need to be careful of runaway horses." Returning her gaze to Nekozawa, she said, "Haruhi needs to be careful of bridges during the fair." She looked at Hunny and found herself blushing even harder, "You are safe as well as your cousin and Kyoya-senpai."

"Um, thank you?" Hunny spoke hesitantly. He knew he was a little shaken by her predictions, and from the looks on the other hosts' faces, they were too. Knowing how accurate she can be, just look at Haruhi for an example, it made for a worrisome situation.

"You are welcome Haninozuka-senpai," she whispered.

Kyoya had thought after thought running through his mind. The twins and Tamaki were huddled together and clinging to each other like their life was about to end. If Reiko was the one giving the prophecy, Kyoya was going to listen, but if she saw anyone's death, she would have said something. So what could it all mean? Haruhi in a dress could be cosplay, but Reiko said that people would know she is a girl. Tamaki didn't exactly have a tightknit relationship with his family, and if anything was more of an outcast than the next heir. Hikaru and Kaoru… well with their pranks it could be anything. Clearing his throat, he told her, "Thank you for your information and guidance. We have been grateful to it and it is due to you that we still have Haruhi with us today."

"WHAT?" Three voices shouted in disbelief.

Rolling his eyes, Kyoya scowled at them, "Reiko saw a vision of Haruhi being hurt. It was due to her special skills that we were able to protect Haruhi and keep her safe away from the person that wanted to hurt her. In fact, it was Nekozawa-senpai who rescued her the first time when he was hit with the bat that was thrown at Haruhi." He believed it best to not disclose the face Reiko actually saw Haruhi die.

"But we saw her neck and heard…" Tamaki exclaimed trying to make sense of everything.

"That was an unfortunate accident. Our suspect had arrived early by a few minutes and threw herself at Haruhi before she could be restrained. Nekozawa-senpai saved her. What do you think about him now?" Kyoya smirked.

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki looked to Mori and Hunny for confirmation and they readily gave it. Then they turned to Nekozawa, who had not gone after Haruhi because of Reiko's arrival, and saw the puppet nodding. Kaoru was the brave one who spoke, "Did you really save Haruhi?"

"I would do anything to make sure she was safe," the Dark Prince answered. He wanted to go after Haruhi, but he had needed to hear what Reiko had to say and it would have been hard to get through the six other bodies in the room without being stopped.

"How did you even know she was a girl?" Hikaru asked harshly. He wasn't ready to admit defeat yet, but he felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced to the side to see not his brother's, but Tamaki's hand.

Laughing in his dark and creepy voice, Nekozawa declared, "Well it is hard to keep a secret like that when she comes over to my house every week."

"It really isn't a spell or curse?" Tamaki questioned.

"I would never do that to her. I tried to push her away, but as you can see, it didn't work. Why would I put a spell on her and then have no intention of standing by her?" The bewigged man retorted. "Now if you will excuse me, I do believe Haruhi is upset and wandering around somewhere," he left everyone in the room without another glance, his only thought was to get to Haruhi and make sure she was alright.

Tamaki was confused. Nekozawa was all about the darkness and Haruhi was… well wasn't. They say they have feelings for each other, but how will this work? Will Haruhi have to cross over into the dark? Making a choking sound, he fell into his inner mind theatre.

**_Opening of Inner Mind Theatre curtain (applause)…_**

_Going for a visit to the Fujioka household, the door to the apartment opens with a loud creek. He steps in, but it is hard to see since dark curtains are now covering the windows and no light is being allowed in. there is a single candle burning in the living room on a table. Tamaki moves forward a couple more steps and can barely make out a figure in a dark cloak. The door behind him swings shut with a whoosh and a bang. Jumping, he screams and tries to open the door, but it won't move. _

_"Going so soon senpai?" Haruhi laughs maniacally behind her friend as she holds up a curse doll with his name on it. _

_Tamaki spins around to see Haruhi's face covered with the hood of the cloak and she is dressed in all black. This is not the little girl he loved and remembered so well…_

**_Curtain closes on another Inner Mind Theatre (applause)…_**

"NO! HARUHI YOU DON'T HAVE TO WEAR ALL BLACK! COME BACK TO THE LIGHT WHERE DADDY IS!" Tamaki cried out and fell to his knees.

"There he goes again," Kaoru muttered.

Hikaru concurred, "You would think that the number of times he does that would decrease, but I think they have increased in number."

"You would be correct," Kyoya pushed his glasses up, "His inner mind theatres have increased by 68% since Haruhi joined the Host Club, and 7% in the last month alone."

Everyone in the room sweat dropped. They did not want to know how or where he got his figures, but they were not going to question or argue with the Shadow King.

"What do we do about Haruhi?" Hikaru questioned.

Shrugging, Kaoru sighed, "She says she has feelings for him."

"But she needs to love one of us!" The eldest twin yelled before feeling his brother wrap him in a hug.

"You will leave both of them alone. If they want to be together, it is their decision. I happen to know for a fact that she has no feelings beyond that of friendship or brotherly affection for anyone in the club. If you interfere and she gets hurt… you will pay the penalty," Kyoya threatened, his glasses catching the light and creating a glare. Everyone took a step away from him, and he saw Hunny grab Reiko and pull her out of the room. If his "suggestions" worked, then Haruhi and Nekozawa would get zero interventions from the moronic three, but then again… he realized who he was talking about and knew he needed to keep an eye on Tamaki and the twins to make sure they did nothing untoward to the couple.


	13. Host Club Black Magic Club LOVE

**A/N: Awe, they are together and Kyoya is threatening our trio to stay out of their lives. Isn't it sweet? I love Kyoya when he goes into Shadow King mode. I had been watching the physical exam episode again and Kyoya pulled out the pie charts, somehow that made its way into the last chapter with the stats on Tamaki's inner mind theatre. LOL. So this chapter will really only have our two couples, Hunny/Reiko and Haruhi/Nekozawa… hey the Black Magic Club needs love too. XD Enjoy!**

**PS… Don't forget about the poll up on my page and that of CyraAngel about the story Revenge. If you want your chance to vote for which ending you like best, please vote.**

Chapter 13 – Host Club + Black Magic Club = Love

Hunny had pulled Reiko out of the room to get her away from the drama unfolding in the small room. Kyoya had a habit of not always caring who was around him when he went into Shadow King mode and he wanted to protect the first year from anything that might be said or done. There was also the fact he wanted to talk to her. They had talked a few times in the past and he told her to be herself, but she was still working on curses to get him to fall for her. He appreciated her help in the Haruhi case and felt like he needed to give her more of a chance, "Reiko-Chan, thank you for helping Haru-Chan."

Blushing, Reiko smiled as they walked down the hall her hand still in Hunny's. It was the first time he had called her by her first name instead of her last, "No one should have to die because of jealousy. I got the sense that she had unfinished business left on earth and her soul would not have been able to rest in peace had she died then."

The bunny loving host sweat dropped. That was not exactly the response he was looking for. Scratching the back of his head, he cleared his throat holding Usa-Chan a little tighter in his other arm, "Uh yah. Are you ok with the fact that she and Neko-Chan are together now?"

"They are? That is really good. I knew they were destined for each other. My crystal ball said so. It was one of the things she would have left unfinished."

Dropping her hand, Hunny opened the door and allowed her to exit the school building first. Inside the lunch room, there would have been a crowd; outside, they could talk amongst themselves and not have to worry about others bothering them.

Reiko looked down at the hand that Hunny had been holding until he opened the door for her and missed the warm grip. She had tried curses and spells and anything else she could think of to get his attention, but nothing was working. Now he wanted to talk to her alone because she helped his friend. Did Hunny have feelings for Haruhi? Was that why he wanted to thank her? She could feel her heart breaking at the thought that he wanted the first year host who was pretending to be a boy.

Hunny didn't try to reach for Reiko's hand again, but his itched to hold the soft feminine hand once more. However, instead of thinking about that, he navigated her through the rose maze, "Haru-Chan is a really good friend of mine and I am glad that nothing happened to her."

"Oh."

"She was always kind to me and never looked down for how I acted or the fact I carry Usa-Chan."

"Oh."

"Are you ok Reiko-Chan?" He had no idea what was wrong with the girl, he was just trying to make conversation and she seemed a little out of sorts.

"I am fine Haninozuka-senpai. So do you love Haruhi? Are you upset about her choosing Nekozawa-senpai?" She had to know, it might hurt her worse than what she was hurting now, but she had to know.

Tilting his head to the side, Hunny regarded the girl walking beside him for a moment before he said, "Why would I be sad when I helped with the plan that made them admit their feelings? I love Haru-Chan, but that is because she is like a sister to me and one of my best friends. I am ecstatic she and Nekozawa are together. It is about time too because they have been dancing around this for months."

"You did? They have?" She was dumbfounded. She thought for sure that he had feelings for Haruhi.

"Yah they have and it is nice to see them finally together. Now, we just have to keep the others from interfering," Hunny grinned. He paused for a moment and asked in a rush, "Would you like to sit with me today at Host Club? I would really like to see you again." He knew the bell was about to ring and he wasn't exactly ready to say good bye.

Reiko blushed, but nodded, "I will join you today." She felt giddy on the inside.

Beaming, Hunny gave the girl a hug and spun her around. He wasn't sure why he was afraid she would decline, but when she hadn't, he felt sweet relief. It was then that the bell rang and he set the girl back on her feet and giggled, "Come on Reiko-Chan, we have to get to class!"

When Haruhi ran out of the room, she had every intention of moving to the rose maze, but stopped herself. Tamaki and the twins would look for her there or the music room before they went to search for her elsewhere. She wanted to be alone, and that left out the library and most other places at Ouran. Sighing, she started to walk the halls in the hopes that inspiration would hit her and she would figure out a place to hide out from the others.

She stopped in her wandering and looked out a window. The pavement was still a little wet and there were still a few clouds in the sky, but the earlier thunderstorm was now only a fading memory. Did that mean that what happened in that room was only a memory also? She hoped not because she wanted it to be so much more than that. She wasn't sure how long she had stood there looking out the window when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her and then a hand grabbed her shoulder. Spinning around, Haruhi came face to face with the man of her thoughts and blushed, "Neko…"

"You know Haruhi, I liked it better when you used my first name," Nekozawa smiled

If it was possible, the blush increased as she looked down at her feet, "Um, ok then. Umehito-senpai about what happened…"

Nekozawa furrowed his brow. Was she trying to tell him that she changed her mind; that she was only caught up in the moment of the storm? And after that, was it just because of how the others burst into the room? "Do you regret it so soon?" He asked her.

Snapping her head up, Haruhi looked at him in confusion, "No, I don't. I was telling the truth when I said that I already had a plan with your sister. Of course she didn't know that I had ulterior motives, and I should apologize to her for that, but if you would rather forget it, then I understand."

The Dark Prince studied the girl in front of him before making a decision. Grabbing her hand, he told her, "Come with me." He dragged her through the vast corridors of Ouran's high school division before he came to a stop in front of a large dark door. He opened it and pulled her inside shutting the door behind them.

"What is this place senpai?"

"It is a storage room for the Black Magic Club. I also use it when I need a break from people or my other club members. It is private and no one usually comes in here since we keep our shelves stocked in the club room. Besides, I and the vice president are the only ones in the club with a key, and our VP is out this week. So no one can bother us here or overhear our conversation."

Smiling, Haruhi nodded as Nekozawa turned on a very dim light. It was enough to see where you were going, but still left the room in darkness.

"I felt due to your secret, our conversation was best had in private."

Haruhi found herself backed against the wall and trapped between Nekozawa's arms, and she didn't want to be anywhere else. She sounded a little breathless when she said, "I agree."

"Everything I said to you was the truth. I wanted to be there for you yesterday instead of leaving you with those other three, and I felt bereft after I walked out. I have missed seeing you at my house and playing with my sister, but mostly, I have missed you."

"I missed you too."

"So I know I didn't consult you and announced that you were my girlfriend without your permission, and you went with it in the room, but now I am asking. Will you be my girlfriend and be by my side?"

Nodding, Haruhi wrapped her arms around her cloaked senpai and whispered, "I will."

Nekozawa dropped his arms and placed his hands on her hips before leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss. This one was sweeter than and not as all-consuming as their first one had been. It was about learning each other and not about the admission or proving of feelings. This kiss was so much more than that. There was no worry that they were going to be interrupted or that a storm was moving in, it was only them in that room celebrating their new found romance. Light and dark could do more than coexist; they could love each other too.

As they separated for air, Nekozawa rested his forehead against Haruhi's and smiled, "I feel like I should have told you a long time ago what I felt for you."

"I think you should have senpai," Haruhi giggled still trying to regain her equilibrium and her breath, but his statement lead to a thought and she blurted, "How long have you had feelings?"

Chuckling, the Dark Prince answered, "Probably longer than you suspect." He released her and took a step back, taking her hand he led her to a couch in the corner, "I realized that you captivated me the first time I saw you right before the twins wreaked havoc on the club. Then when you helped my sister and read her all of those mangas, I knew you were special, but I told myself that it wasn't possible since you were a boy and a host. Then when I learned your secret, I stopped denying how I felt and accepted my feelings. I believed them to be one sided at the time though."

"Would you have really left me alone if Kyoya-senpai, Hunny-senpai, and Mori-senpai had not done something?"

"I don't know. I would like to think that I would have come to my senses, but I don't know if I really would have. I thought you needed to be with someone else, one of the hosts because you I thought you deserved to belong with someone who didn't live his life in the dark. Then again, you said you had your own plan for tonight."

Haruhi harrumphed and crossed her arms. She was sitting next to her new boyfriend and wanted to smack him on the back of the head, but she resisted temptation, "What about what I wanted? Why does everyone think they know what is best for me without ever asking me? I have Tamaki acting like my daddy, Hikaru and Kaoru convinced I am their toy and therefore they have every right to control me and my life, I owe a debt to the Host Club which Kyoya-senpai does what he wants with that, and now you deciding that I needed to fall for one of the hosts. Everyone needs to stop thinking for me and allow me to decide what I want for me!"

The man sitting beside her knew that she was right. So many people thought they had a say in her life when I was her life to live and no one else's. Haruhi had done a great job thus far in her own life, she had been able to get into Ouran, she ran the household budget, and she was accomplishing each of the goals she set forth in her life without anyone telling her how to do it all. She deserved an award, not their meddling. Kissing the side of her head, he told her, "Your right and I am sorry."

Leaning her head on his shoulder, Haruhi finally said, "I know you're afraid that because of your extracurricular activities that I should be with someone else, but that is how I fell for you and one of the things that make you, well you."

"So you wouldn't rather have me walk around without my cloak and wig?"

"I know you can, but you have to be comfortable with whoever you are, and if it is wearing the cloak and wig, then go for it; just like you wouldn't force me to dress up in a bunch of frilly dresses all of the time."

The cat worshipper started to laugh, "No, I wouldn't do that to you at all. Kirimi might, but I know you hate all of the really girly stuff all of the time. If I tried, I think you would sooner stab me in the heart than go through that day in and day out."

"I might," Haruhi chortled.

"You do realize my dear Haruhi that you are late to your next class? The bell rang several minutes ago."

"Crap!"

"Your Shadow King isn't the only one that can help with the instructors in this school. Allow me to escort you to class and then I will see you tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend smooth things over with her sensei," he grinned as he helped her from the couch and together they walked side by side to her next class. When they got there, true to his word, Nekozawa was able to talk to the teacher and Haruhi was excused for her tardiness. With the promise that he would see her later that night, Nekozawa climbed into his car and went home with thoughts of his new girlfriend lingering in his mind.


	14. Spreading the Word

**A/N: Gomen everyone! Last week was not good between me getting sick and my computer getting a worm. Good news… my sister was able to fix the computer since she is one of those computer support techs. Took a little longer than we thought, but I finally got my computer back and everything is good from here on out. It took me longer than normal to update due to technical difficulties, but we are now over that hump. Now for the story… Will Tamaki and Hikaru listen to reason and allow Haruhi the man she wants, or will they interfere. We will have to see. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Dedicated to Jeremy. It doesn't seem like it has been a year since we lost you. I miss you. Happy Birthday dude!**

Chapter 14 – Spreading the Word

"So what are we going to do boss?" Hikaru whispered to Tamaki in the club room later that day.

A bright light suddenly shone around the president of the Host Club and he jumped up from the couch, arm straight in the air, "I GOT IT! My plan is ingenious and it is perfect."

Giving his friend a quizzical look, and one that might have been a little disbelieving, Hikaru asked, "Oh really, and what is your plan?"

"Yah, Tono. I thought Kyoya-senpai told us to leave them alone," Kaoru added trying to be the voice of reason within the trio.

"You can't really believe…" the elder twin started, but was quickly interrupted by an excited blond.

Tamaki beamed, "He said we couldn't break them up, but mommy never said we can't help them be together."

"HUH?" The twins both sweat dropped.

The prince of the club chuckled as he ran one of his hands through his hair, "It is quite easy to understand, well if you are me that is. You being… well you, you can't see what I can. Haruhi is a girl and stepped into this room of her own accord. As such, per our rules, she is a customer and not only a host. Ergo, we will help her with her relationship with Nekozawa-senpai!"

Turning to gaze befuddled at each other before turning back to their leader, Hikaru and Kaoru yelled, "WHAT?" It was not something either one of them were expecting to hear from Tamaki… ever, at least not in this lifetime.

"What are you three discussing over here? Need I remind you of what will happen if you even attempt to interfere in Haruhi and Nekozawa senpai's relationship? I will not hold back in punishing you to the best of my ability," Kyoya smirked and his glasses glinted menacingly giving him a very dark Shadow King aura.

"N-No mommy! You have it all wrong!" The king cried out.

Kyoya adjusted his glasses, "Then I suggest you tell me exactly what you three are planning or you will regret it."

It was good to have a healthy fear of one's best friend, especially if said best friend is Kyoya Ootori. Tamaki gulped and took in a deep breath before rushing through his explanation in a very loud voice, "WEWANTTOHELPHARUHIANDNEKOZAWA-SENPAIFINDLOVEANDBE TOGETHERFOREVER!"

"What?" The vice president was currently looking at the president of the club like he had lost his mind, and to Kyoya, Tamaki probably had. "I suggest you slow down, lower your voice, and repeat what you just said. No one would be able to understand you and would probably think you were talking in an alien language since it obviously isn't anything spoken on this planet."

Attempting to explain again, the blond took in another deep breath, but this time exhaled before he spoke, "Haruhi is a princess of the Host Club, and as such we should do everything in our power to make sure she is happy. As much as we find it weird and disconcerting that she would fall for, *gulp*, Nekozawa-senpai, we want to help her find her happiness with him so that they can find love forever."

The vice president shook his head and then immediately face palmed, "I don't think you need to help them. If you remember correctly, they are already together and will get along without your help."

"But he will graduate this year and then she will be so lonely…" Tamaki whined and got a dreamy look on his face.

"Oh no, here we go again," the twins grumbled.

**_Opening of Inner Mind Theatre curtain (applause)…_**

_Nekozawa graduates and Haruhi is left alone. She falls into despair and sighs all of the time. Finally her sighs give way to tears that she is unable to hold back. _

_"My dear Haruhi, what is wrong?" Tamaki inquires when he sees two rivers flowing down her rosy cheeks._

_Looking off into the distance, Haruhi sobs, "It's Nekozawa-senpai and I… we have grown so far apart since he left. We never get to see each other anymore and I think... I think, I don't think he loves me anymore."_

_Tamaki immediately pulls her into his arms, "Don't worry my daughter, daddy will fix this."_

_"But how daddy?" Haruhi gazed up at her friend with sorrowful eyes and her lips trembling with her cries._

_"I will think of a way!" Tamaki shouted._

**_Closing of the Inner Mind Theatre curtain (applause)…_**

"Don't worry Haruhi! You will never have to cry because we won't let him leave you behind! Daddy will fix this for you!" Tamaki screamed.

From somewhere behind the small group of hosts, "For the last time senpai, you are not my father."

Kyoya smiled knowing the moment the remaining three hosts had arrived, while the other three gasped in fear, their hearts racing. Spinning around to look upon the newest occupants of the room, three of the four original occupants looked at bit sheepish, well that was until Tamaki ran full steam ahead to embrace his most precious daughter, "Haruhi! Daddy is so happy you are here today! Don't worry; Nekozawa-senpai will never leave you."

"Um, ok. Now put me down and stop calling yourself my father!" Haruhi yelled. However instead of being released, she was pulled in for a tight hug and spun around in a circle. Struggling didn't work, but she had something on her side that was better than attempting to free herself, "Mori-senpai, HELP!" She was immediately extracted from Tamaki and set behind the tall senior and let out a sigh of relief.

Tamaki kept trying to peek behind Mori's back, "You didn't have to do that Mori-senpai. I was just hugging my daughter. She likes it!"

"No, she doesn't," Mori glared.

Hunny giggled, "I don't think that Neko-chan would like you to manhandle his girlfriend Tama-Chan."

That stopped the blond president short and had him scrambling to hide behind Kyoya, "You-you won't tell him that I hugged you, will you Haruhi?"

Rolling her eyes, Haruhi exhaled loudly, "Thank you Mori-senpai, and no, Tamaki, I won't tell him." Then a thought struck her and she smirked, "But I can't promise that it won't happen in the future." She knew that it would make Tamaki pause and it might save her a couple of cracked ribs. Quirking her eyebrow, she studied her friend for a moment before casting her gaze upon the twins, "Now what is this latest delusion Tamaki-senpai is spouting?"

"IT ISN'T A DELUSION! YOU SHOULDN'T TALK ABOUT YOUR FATHER THAT WAY YOUNG LADY!" Tamaki bellowed.

"I don't talk about my father that way… most of the time, but since you aren't my father, I am just going to tell the truth," Haruhi stated bluntly.

An arrow came out of nowhere and hit Tamaki dead center in the chest, forcing him to fly backwards. Holding up a hand as if reaching for something, he groaned, "My daughter doesn't love me any longer."

Ignoring her friend lying prostrate on the ground with an arrow sticking out of him, the female host returned her attention to her two best friends, "Care to explain?"

"You can't possibly be serious about Nekozawa-senpai!" Hikaru screamed.

"Hikaru," Kaoru tried to chastise his brother and calm him down, but he knew Hikaru was jealous.

"Actually, I can and I am. He has been a good friend to me and saved my life…" Haruhi started and was interrupted.

"If this is just you being grateful for saving your life, you can send him flowers! We rescued you too!" The eldest twin shrieked.

Haruhi looked confused, "It isn't just about being grateful though. This is more. I was grateful to everyone's help that day on the beach, but this is so much more than that. I liked him and had feelings for him long before he rescued me. Kyoya-senpai probably has notes on it."

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya chuckled, "Indeed I do Haruhi."

"But why him?" Hikaru demanded to know.

Kaoru wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulder and whispered, "We can't force her to like one of us."

Turning his blazing eyes to Kaoru, Hikaru declared, "We would be better than him though!" He turned his eyes to face Haruhi again, "We would be! We are better than him!"

"In whose eyes? In yours? Is it because he wears a cloak and wig? Well news flash, I DON'T LIKE EVERYTHING YOU PUT ME IN OR EVERYTHING YOU WEAR! He is a good guy and it doesn't matter what he looks like on the outside. It only matters about what is on the inside. He has one of the best hearts I have ever seen. He is willing to put his life in danger for the ones that he loves, and we have seen that not only with me, but with his sister. If you can't accept it, then I DON'T CARE! We are together and that is final."

It was deathly silent in the clubroom at that moment. It felt more like they were in a mausoleum than a music room. Not even Hunny dare to say anything, but finally the noiselessness was broken by an embarrassed shuffling. Running his hand through his hair, Hikaru finally relented, albeit reluctantly, "Fine, be with him if that is who you really want, but don't cry to us when he tries to put a spell on you."

"NO! HE CAN'T PUT A SPELL ON MY BABY!" Tamaki had recovered and tried to pull Haruhi in his arms again, but before he could, he was tripped on one of the rugs.

Hunny started to walk to his table whistling a happy tune, putting the rug down inconspicuously. Tamaki tripped on a rug. They can be so dangerous sometimes; of course it didn't help if the rug in question was helped along by a martial arts master.

With Tamaki's face lying on the ground and the rest of his body hovering over him (think headstand using his face instead of the top of his head), everyone started to laugh. The tension was broken, but that didn't mean everyone was fully on board with her choice in men. That might take a little bit more time.

As soon as club wrapped for the day, Haruhi hurried over to her boyfriend's house. She was anxious to see not only him, but his sister. Before she could even ring the doorbell though, the door swung open and a small blonde girl threw herself at the female host, "Nee-Chan! You really came!"

A deep chuckle sounded from inside the house coming from the shadows, "Kirimi, let her come inside."

Haruhi couldn't help it, as soon as she heard that voice, a smile appeared on her face, "Come on Kirimi. Maybe we can convince your brother to make cookies with us."

"Nii-Chan, will you?" The youngest Nekozawa child ran into the house and up to her bewigged brother.

Closing the door behind her, Haruhi walked up to her boyfriend and gave him a small kiss, "Come on, for both of us?"

Kirimi watched the exchange with wonderment as her eyes grew. Pointing towards her brother and Haruhi, she proclaimed, "You two are a love match and together!"

Wrapping his arms around Haruhi, Umehito nodded, "We are. Are you ok with that?"

"YAY! It is about time!" The little girl shouted and ran around the couple.

"I think she likes the idea," Haruhi snickered, "So will you bake cookies with us?"

"I will sit in there, but I will not be baking," Nekozawa finally conceded.

Throwing herself at her brother, Kirimi shouted, "AWESOME! Nii-Chan can sit in a chair and we will bake and you two can kiss a lot."

Haruhi face palmed and thought, _"We really need to get her to stop reading those manga."_


	15. Sisters

**A/N: I just love Kirimi and her addiction to manga. As soon as she found out about the relationship, I could picture her going a bit fangirl and referencing something she sees in one of her mangas. LOL. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**PS... If you have not seen it, there is a side story to my Bitter series that can actually be read as a stand alone. Satoshi Morinozuka has written down his many uses that a shinai holds at the request of Kyoya. Go and check it out. It is called 101 Uses of a Shinai**

Chapter 15 – Sisters

Haruhi felt like she was on cloud nine as she entered the school the next morning. She had a wonderful time with both Kirimi and her boyfriend and had not wanted the time to end. Unfortunately, Nekozawa would not be back in school until the start of the following week due to his injuries, but she could see him afterwards and there was always the phone… he was never really very far away. Snickering a little to herself, she felt a bit like a giddy schoolgirl when she thought about the fact that she was now dating Umehito Nekozawa.

"You, are you so happy about what you did to my sister that you would laugh about it?!" Someone yelled in front of Haruhi right before slapping her across the cheek.

That action snapped Haruhi back into reality as she grabbed her cheek and she found herself face to face with Atsuko Seito. "What the hell? Have you gone crazy" Haruhi questioned before she could censor her words.

Shaking in her fury, Atsuko sneered, "You are the reason my sister is locked away right now; your fault that she got upset in the first place. Everything is your fault!"

"I think you need to calm down. Your sister is the one that attacked me, more than once. I did nothing to her. I don't even know why she tried to attack me," the female host tried to remain calm, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing up and she wanted to run. There was something wild in the eyes that were glaring at her right then and she feared the younger sibling had snapped due to recent events.

Atsuko took a step forward and she was basically in Haruhi's face at that point, but she did not bring her volume level down, "She was sticking up for me after you so callously threw me away. You don't care about the people around you. It is all just fun and games to you, isn't it? Well, you need to be taught that you are nothing more than a commoner and therefore you are the dirt we tread upon!" Bringing her hand back, she had every intention of punching Haruhi with her fist this time. No one made a laughing stock of her family; Haruhi would pay… only her hand was caught and wouldn't move. Glancing to her right, she found Mori holding her arm making her unable to use the appendage, "You would do well to let go of my hand Morinozuka-senpai, or else."

"No, you will not punish Haruhi for the actions of your sister, and there is nothing you can do to me. You would do well to remember who you are talking to. I am not someone who will bend to you, especially when you are trying to injure an innocent person," Mori replied.

"That's right. If you hurt Haru-Chan, you will have to pay the consequences," Hunny declared darkly after he inserted himself between the two girls.

"You have no clue what he has done to my family!" Atsuko screamed.

"I assure you, we know everything," Kyoya stated standing beside Hunny giving the other girl a hard stare, "You have attracted quite a crowd. Anything you do will be judged as an attack on Haruhi's person and as the Host Club's vice president, I cannot allow that to happen. I know everything that has happened, and the only thing Haruhi did was to decline your advances. He did not feel the same or have any feelings for you, and thus he turned you down. However, I would also say that it is the policy of the Host Club to not date our customers; that is just bad business. Now if you are done making a spectacle out of yourself, we can discuss this elsewhere." He dropped his voice and leaned forward, "I can tell you that your sister committed some heinous acts and for that she has been locked up in order to get revenge for you."

"YOU LIE! It's his fault! He is the problem. If he had never come here, everyone here would be the better!" Atsuko yelled.

Pushing his glasses up, Kyoya shook his head, "I assure you that I do not lie, especially not about a subject such as this." He may stretch the truth or manipulate words, but he didn't lie.

Atsuko felt like she was fighting a losing battle, but she refused to give up and launched herself for the space between Kyoya and Hunny in an attempt to gain access to the only host she considered an enemy. She didn't get far though since Mori was faster and had his arm around her waist holding her tight preventing her from reaching her desired target. Unable to hold back her emotions, she started to cry, "Haruhi Fujioka needs to pay for what he did to my sister. He… he needs to pay. It's his fault. It is only his fault. It can't be my fault. It just can't be…"

"Her actions were not your doing, but your actions today are your responsibility," Mori stated.

Taking further control of the situation, the Shadow King told his friends, "Mori-senpai, take her to the music room. I will call her father and the doctor. Hunny-senpai, stay with Haruhi. He looks like he has had a bit of a shock and needs some ice for his cheek."

"Right Kyo-Chan!" Hunny saluted the vice president.

Mori nodded and started to carry the girl in his custody to the music room. He was beginning to wonder if there was a screw loose in the family because he was convinced that Atsuko had a psychotic break just like her sister. He felt bad for them, but he would do what he could to protect his friends.

Hunny waited until his cousin was gone with the other girl before he started to escort Haruhi into the building, but Kyoya stopped them before they made it three steps, "Haruhi what happened this morning?"

"Honestly Kyoya-senpai, I am not sure. I was about to enter the school when she started shouting at me and slapped my face. Then she accused me of driving her sister insane and getting her locked up. She said I was laughing at her sister, but I was just thinking about someone in particular and I guess I was smiling. I just know Mori-senpai stopped her from hitting me again, which is probably a good thing since my cheek is already on fire," Haruhi answered honestly.

"That would be the scratches she left on your face. She apparently clawed you when she slapped you," Kyoya muttered as he shook his head after turning her cheek to get a better look. Sighing, he looked at his senior, "Hunny-senpai, I am sure I don't have to tell you, but make sure those are disinfected as well."

"I will get her taken care of Kyo-Chan!" Hunny declared.

Nodding, Kyoya said, "I will make sure your instructors know that you will be missing from first period today."

"Thank you Kyoya-senpai, but I…" Haruhi tried to prevent that from happening, but she was cut off.

"I would rather you take care of your cheek and miss one class. It will be fine Haruhi. It isn't like you have a test this morning or you would have locked yourself in your room last night," Kyoya smirked and pushed his glasses up.

Haruhi could not argue with that assessment, and she had a feeling that Kyoya had ulterior motives for keeping her out of her first class that morning other than her cheek. Finally she gave in and nodded, allowing Hunny to drag her away and towards the infirmary so that he could treat her battle wound.

Once they arrived in the infirmary, Hunny waved off the nurse and asked them to just bring him the first aid kit. He wanted to get the slap/scratch treated and out of the infirmary before Tamaki and the twins got wind of what happened this morning. Yes, there was a reason Kyoya asked him to make sure he stayed with their Host Club princess, he knew she would be bombarded with people and the particular people would hound her. Granted they were going to do that in second period also, but at least this would allow her to breathe a little before she was swarmed.

"You know senpai, I could have still gone to class," Haruhi muttered when Hunny was done with the wound and was pulling her down the hall towards another room.

"I know Haru-Chan, but were you really ready to deal with everyone this morning? Kyo-Chan was giving you time."

Unable to find fault with his logic, she mumbled, "I guess you're right. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with everyone right away this morning. So where are we going?"

"The green house, they won't look for us there."

"They?"

Giggling, Hunny replied, "Who do you think?"

It was at that moment that Haruhi realized that Kyoya was saving her from everyone else; it was three idiots that would be a bit overzealous in their reaction. No, she was grateful for the small and short reprieve.

In the music room, Mori had set Atsuko down on one of the couches and stood close by guarding her to make sure she didn't try to make a break for it. She looked like she was about to break down and cry again.

Kyoya came in a few minutes later and sat across from Atsuko, "Your father and a doctor from the Ootori hospital will be here momentarily. You should know that Haruhi can file assault charges against you, although your transgressions were not as bad as your sister's. However, that being said, I cannot allow you to freely attack one of my friends. I am not sure what is going on, or why both you and your sister have snapped, but I am sure the doctor will be able to help you."

"So because of Haruhi, you are locking me up to?" Atsuko spat.

"No," Kyoya started and waited until the girl's head snapped up, "You have brought this upon yourself. It is like Mori-senpai said earlier; you have to be responsible for your own actions. Haruhi did nothing more than not return your feelings and to turn your advances down. There is nothing wrong with that. Is there? If there was, then you should be put under arrest for that as well." He opened up his black book and started skimming through the pages, "In middle school you declined no less than four boys who confessed to you. Already in high school two boys have confessed to you, and I am sure there are more who have crushes. You deny them, but Haruhi cannot deny you? A double standard does not work and will not work. You are the one at fault for today, and your sister is at fault for her own actions."

"It is different!"

"How is it different?"

"He hurt me!"

Kyoya adjusted his glasses, "And I am sure you have hurt the ones that you rejected as well. I happen to know that Haruhi was gentle when he declined, more so than you were to the ones you rejected. There is nothing wrong with not returning your feelings. He at least was kind to you, which at this point I think is more than you deserve, and more than the other hosts would have probably done for you." When there was silence for a couple of minutes, he spoke again, "You can dump, but you cannot take the dumping. The world is a cruel place and you do not get everything you want when you want it. Just because Haruhi is a commoner, he does not have to bow down to your whims. He already has someone he cares a great deal for and he could never return your feelings. As for your sister… you cried to Sakura and she took it upon herself to avenge you, but there was nothing to avenge because you were just a little foolish girl with a broken heart. Did that necessitate needing to kill Haruhi? That is exactly what your sister's plans were. She attempted to throw a bat at her and she struck down Nekozawa-senpai instead. When she realized she didn't hit the right person, she took off like a coward and then tried to strangle Haruhi the next day. He still has the hand prints on his throat from your sister. It was at this time that your father decided to hospitalize your sister instead of sending her to prison."

The girl hung her head in shame because she knew his words were right. How was she any different? Did she think she deserved more from the person she liked because she felt like she was above Haruhi and the others in her life? Facing the truth was a hard thing to do, but part of her still did not want to accept it. What was wrong with her?

It was another fifteen minutes or so before the doctor arrived and then another ten minutes beyond that before her father arrived. As soon as Mr. Seito walked into the room, Kyoya and Mori could both see the exhaustion in his eyes. He was tired and worried and today, his second daughter was adding to it. Kyoya couldn't help but sympathize with him. It couldn't be easy to deal with two girls that had for whatever reason, started to act out.

"Ootori-san, I'm…" the father started.

Kyoya held up his hand, "There is no need to apologize. I do not think Atsuko warrants such extreme measures as we had to take with Sakura; however, she does need help. She made a scene this morning and scratched one of my friend's cheeks when she slapped him, and there is no way to cover up what has been done, but you should still be able to keep Sakura's whereabouts a secret for now. Doctor, please tell Seito-sama what you recommend in regards to Atsuko."

"Of course Ootori-sama. I do not think your daughter needs to be committed, but she does have some issues she needs to work through. I would recommend pulling her out of school for a month and home school her for now to reduce her stress level. I would also recommend seeing a counselor and prescribing anti-depressants to help her, of course, I would want a more thorough evaluation before we prescribe any drugs," the doctor explained.

The look of relief was more than apparent on the father's face, "Thank you. We will do whatever you recommend."

"Seito-sama, I don't mean to be indelicate here, but is there a history of mental illness in your family?" Kyoya questioned.

"Not my side, but the girls' mother committed suicide right after Atsuko was born. I remarried and the woman who raised both girls as her own is actually their step mother," the patriarch said through a tight throat.

Kyoya, Mori, and the doctor all shared a look, and each felt bad for the father. It was not easy to move beyond that, but now to have to deal with the fact that both daughters were acting as they were… they could only hope that he was able to get through this. Kyoya was going to make counselors available to the whole family so that they could try and cope together.

"You have our sympathies," Mori spoke to the father and bowed.

"We will leave you two to talk to the doctor. If you need help arranging anything, please do not hesitate to call," Kyoya said as he stood up and bowed. Both he and Mori left the room and allowed the three remaining participants to be alone.

As they walked down the hall, Mori asked, "Did you know about that?"

"No, but it isn't surprising. At least now Haruhi is safe from further attempts on her life," the Shadow King replied.

"Not unless you count Tamaki and the twins."

"I do not. They wreak havoc on everyone's lives so they don't count," Kyoya chuckled.

Mori smiled and shook his head, "Nekozawa won't like this."

"And with the way her face looked, she can't exactly hide it either," the bespectacled teen sighed before pulling out his phone and finding an empty classroom. Mori followed him with a question in his expression, "I may as well call him now and explain it all. I have a feeling he did something to Sakura. I received reports that as soon as lights out hit, she starts screaming and saying that she is seeing things, but it never happens during the day. I wonder if I can get him to lay off the curses with Atsuko."

Ten minutes later, a bewigged teen growled as he hung up the line, "She better be happy I have sympathy for her plot, but if she harms Haruhi again, I will not be so lenient. I wonder what Haruhi's explanation is going to be." That last thought had Nekozawa chuckling and anticipating his girlfriend's call.

"Nii-Chan, can we go and see Nee-Chan today after school?" Kirimi pounded on her brother's door. She wouldn't go in his room, but standing outside was safe.

Chuckling, Nekozawa beamed, "You know Kirimi, I think that might be a wonderful idea."


	16. Ouran Grapevine

**A/N: It seems as if all of my Ouran stories have all reached a point where we are seeing a little more serious Tamaki (not that it will last, but you never know). Still Assuming he found out the truth of his girlfriend, Bitter2 he is playing the daddy card and chastising the twins for their antics, and now this… When Tamaki decided to support Nekozawa and Haruhi, he came up with some plans. Hikaru might not have agreed, but Tamaki is determined to make sure the secret princess of the Host Club is a happy lady because she is still a girl in the Host Club. Enjoy the new chapter! **

**PS… if you have not seen it, there is a poll on my page in regards to #100 on 101 Uses for a Shinai. Who do you want to see run around in their underwear waving a shinai around? You choose and I will write a chapter about it for that story. So far, Kyoya is in the lead... which I find vastly amusing. I can already picture him running around in nothing but his underwear. What about you?**

Chapter 16 – Ouran Grapevine

When in Ouran, it is inevitable that one must also deal with the Ouran grapevine. It wasn't only the girls that liked to gossip, but there were times when the male students were just as bad as the females. Thus before first period even started, Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru had all learned of the little run in Haruhi had with Atsuko Seito. Now this meant that the three overzealous hosts were worried sick and when Haruhi didn't show up for first period, the twins went into Tamaki mode and wanted to call out the National Guard. The blond president had tried to check on her before the period started, but since she wasn't in class, he couldn't do that; however when Kyoya didn't show up for first period either, Tamaki had the same feeling the twins did. Fortunately, they were prevented from doing anything during first period and saved from making a fool of themselves when Haruhi and Kyoya both made an appearance in second period.

As soon as Haruhi walked through the door with only about a minute to spare before the bell marking her as tardy, the twins pounced on her and demanded to know what happened. They could see plain as day the bandage on her cheek, the one that Haruhi tried to argue was not needed, but couldn't win against Hunny since she was bleeding still. She had forgotten to take it off before she entered the room. Her explanation to her friends was simple, "I fell and scratched my cheek."

"You fell?" Hikaru and Kaoru questioned together, neither one believing what happened since they knew about the little confrontation from this morning. In fact, it seemed as if the whole class was paying attention to Haruhi and not on the fact the bell was ringing and the sensei had walked into the room.

"I fell. Case closed," Haruhi stated in her blunt manner.

Narrowing his eyes, Hikaru spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, but addressed his brother, "Hey Kaoru. Haruhi says he fell, but we heard all about the fight this morning."

"That's right brother dear," Kaoru clung to his elder twin, "It is said our poor Haruhi got himself into a fist fight that ended in Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai having to break it up before both fighters got in trouble. Our own Haruhi held his own and got in a few good shots from what we hear."

"There wasn't a fight!" Haruhi growled and realized she had been baited.

"That is good to know Fujioka-kun because if there was, you and whoever else was involved could face suspension," the sensei spoke up from the front of the class in a harsh voice before telling everyone to take their seats so that the lesson could begin.

Kyoya had his own person to deal with when he walked into his second period classroom, and it made him wonder why he didn't take the morning off. As soon as he walked in the room, he was glomped by his blond best friend who would not let go and the raven haired teen had to wind up dragging the body through the class until he reached his desk. Shaking his head, he wondered why he put up with some of Tamaki's antics when others would have died for lessor things, "What do you want Tamaki?"

"Mommy, our daughter has been involved in a fight and I heard that you had to help end the fight and had a knife thrown at you!" Tamaki cried.

"A knife? There was no knife this morning. Just words being thrown and it ended before anything was really done. Haruhi got slapped, but that is the only thing that happened to him. However, it is true that Mori-senpai, Hunny-senpai, and I were there to help break up the disagreement," Kyoya answered and mentally cured the blasted grapevine.

Gasping, Tamaki shouted, "Our little girl was hit? I must go to her and calm her down! Did someone call Nekozawa?"

Kyoya grabbed the blonde's tie and yanked him down to face level since he had already taken his seat and Tamaki was standing over him, "You do not need to go to her. He is fine and is in his own class right now. You can see him later today at club time. As for Nekozawa, why would he need to be called? He and Haruhi are just friends. We don't need to call every friend Haruhi has to let them know what happened." Lowering his voice, he whispered, "However, I did call him. Now calm down, sit down, and shut up!"

"YES MOMMY!" Tamaki yelped and quickly took his seat dropping the subject for the time being. He did not want to incur the wrath of the Shadow King regardless if it was his best friend. However, with these new developments, he was more convinced than ever, that Haruhi needed a quiet night with her boyfriend and there was no time like the present to make sure they were inseparable before Nekozawa graduated. If he didn't, who knows what would happen after the Dark Prince left Ouran forever.

By the time the Host Club opened its doors for business, there were so many variations of what happened that morning that the four hosts that were present, were shaking their heads. They had heard a knife had been pulled, Haruhi had been hit in the cheek with brass knuckles, she had been kicked in the groin, it had started over a love triangle, it was a spurned lover, etc. The only thing that everyone could agree on was that Haruhi was struck first and most will say she did not hit back, but some claim that she fought in self-defense. The Ouran grapevine at work, but Kyoya wasn't complaining too much since there was an increase of 18% in business for the club, most of the increase came to see Haruhi; which she didn't complain about because it meant that she could pay off her debt that much faster.

After the club closed for the day, Haruhi quickly grabbed her things and was just about to leave the room when Tamaki stopped her, "What is it Tamaki-senpai?"

"I was just going to ask what you were doing tonight. It is going to be a lovely night for a candlelit dinner and such," Tamaki replied grinning.

Narrowing her eyes on her friend, Haruhi observed him for a moment before she spoke, "Tamaki-senpai, I have a boyfriend and I don't think he would like you asking me out. I know I don't."

"Wah? I am not asking you out! I was suggesting that you and Nekozawa need to have a romantic date for two."

"Oh, well, that isn't going to happen tonight. I have some things to do and I think he might be coming over later, but Kirimi will be with him. I'll see you tomorrow senpai. I really need to get going," Haruhi muttered and flew out the door before Tamaki or anyone else could delay her further. She would have loved a romantic night with her boyfriend, but they had plenty of time for that later.

Tamaki shook his head. This just wouldn't do, they needed to start setting aside time for each other now or else when graduation comes, they may never have time together… or at least that was his way of thinking. "Hikaru, Kaoru, we need to set up date night for Haruhi and Nekozawa stat. You two, get a dress over to Haruhi's pronto. Kyoya, arrange a table in a dark corner somewhere." He looked around and found that Hunny and Mori were already gone, so he didn't need to find something for them to do. Then a thought struck him, "Hikaru, Kaoru, do you shady twins have a dress for a little girl?"

The twins glanced at each other and then turned to face Tamaki and realized what he was about and beamed, "We think we have something that will be perfect." They took off for their house so that they could send the packages out quickly.

Shaking his head, Kyoya pulled out his cell phone. He knew Tamaki was involving himself in Haruhi's relationship, but for once it seemed as if he was attempting to help instead of hinder; thus, he was going to make the reservations for his best friend. "I have arranged for them to have dinner at the new Italian place that will open tomorrow. They are closed tonight, but will be able to serve Nekozawa-senpai and Haruhi. They have been informed that the dining room should only be lit by candlelight, and the room should be kept dim. Where are you taking Kirimi?"

"I thought I would take her to dinner and then the amusement park. Haruhi and Nekozawa-senpai need this time together."

"I have to say that I am impressed Tamaki. I wasn't expecting you to take this so well or for you to help them, such as you are."

"She smiles at him with an expression on her face I have never seen before, and like I said before… when she stepped into this club room, she became someone we must help, regardless of our own feelings for her."

Kyoya smiled at his best friend, "Very mature of you Tamaki and I am sure she will appreciate it, but how are you going to get her to go out with him, and to get Kirimi to go with you?"

"Easy, I will call Kirimi. As you said before, she wants to see them together also, so why not let her in on my plans?"

"It is moments like these that I remember why we are best friends and how I put up with your idiocy."

"WHAT? Mommy! You shouldn't insult me like that!"

"Insult? It was a compliment."

Pouting, Tamaki murmured, "It didn't sound like much of one to me." He pulled out his phone and dialed the youngest Nekozawa sibling and explained the plan. The small girl was more than a little excited to help with Operation: Haruhi and Nekozawa Romantic First Date. With her help, the plan could not fail. Kirimi would get her brother to dress up with the assumption that the trio was going out to a nice restaurant together. She would also call Haruhi and beg her to put on a nice dress, which would appear from the twins. Haruhi would of course agree because she had a hard time saying "no" to the little girl. It was all full proof, and for once, Tamaki wasn't going to even try to spy; he had his own date to take care of after all.


	17. Operation: Nekozawa and Haruhi Romantic

**A/N: Wow 100 reviews! Thank you everyone that has reviewed, favored, followed, and read the story! It means a lot to me! Ok, so Tamaki has his plans set for date night with Kirimi while Haruhi goes on a date with Nekozawa. Hopefully all four people will have a good time. Well then again, Tamaki is going to the amusement park with a little girl… he is going to have a blast. At least I think he would. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**PS… The poll is still up and Kyoya is in the lead by a wide margin with Satoshi coming in second. **

Chapter 17 – Operation: Haruhi and Nekozawa Romantic First Date

As soon as the twins arrived at their house, they rushed to their design room and found the perfect ensembles for both Haruhi and Kirimi. They had two of their servants rush them over to the different houses and waited for the phone call that would let them know where to meet Tamaki in order to keep tabs on Haruhi and Nekozawa, because their leader wouldn't allow his daughter to go on a date without spying, or so they believed.

Tamaki hurried home after he confirmed the plan with Kirimi and Kyoya, and he even invited his best friend to join him and the youngest Nekozawa sibling, but the Shadow King had declined due to a prior engagement. At least that is what he said, however the reality was that he felt it best to keep tabs on the twins, and even went so far as to inform Mori and Hunny about everything that was happening. It turned out Hunny had his own date that night with Reiko, so Mori was going to help Kyoya in his mission. Knowing that Hikaru wasn't the happiest about the new beau in Haruhi's life and the fact that the twins were naturally mischievous, the club's vice president knew that there was a possibility that Hikaru and Kaoru would attempt to interfere in the date.

Changing his clothes quickly, Tamaki heard his phone ring as soon as he had emerged from his large closet and made a dash for the electronic device, "Hello?"

"Tama, it's Kirimi. We leaving for nee-chan's house now," the little girl spoke quietly into the phone attempting to keep her duplicity hidden from her elder sibling.

"Ok, I will meet you over there," the blond president smiled and hung up his phone as he ran down the stairs. He would make sure that Haruhi and Nekozawa had a memorable first date without interference, and that included not informing the meddlesome Hitachiin twins the plan.

Nekozawa knew his sister was up to something, but he couldn't figure out what it was. She was wearing a cute pink dress with some ruffles and had forced him to wear a nice black suit; however, he wasn't going to argue since his sister said she made reservations for the three of them and then proceeded to turn tearful eyes Upon him. Still, it was a little disappointing to go on his first real date with Haruhi and have his little sister tag along.

When they pulled up to Haruhi's apartment complex, Kirimi flew out of the car and up the stairs before her brother could stop her. Pounding on the door, she was grinning from ear to ear when Haruhi answered wearing the dress the twins sent to her, "Nee-Chan, you look pretty!"

"Thank you Kirimi, although I do have to say that it is awfully suspicious that the twins sent me a dress right after I got off of the phone with you," Haruhi gave the little girl a questioning look.

Kirimi knew the other girl was looking for answers, but they weren't going to come from her, "Really? That is strange."

"Haruhi, you look magnificent," Nekozawa spoke reverently admiring the girl standing with his sister. He couldn't peel his eyes away from her, and his heart raced a little more when the slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

She could feel her cheeks starting to burn at her boyfriend's words and smiled, "Thank you Umehito. You look handsome as well."

Glancing down into the parking lot, Kirimi could see another limo pulling up and knew it was Tamaki as soon as she saw the head of blond, "Ok, you have fun. I got to go!"

"Kirimi, where do you think you are going?" Nekozawa barely caught his sister before she flew right past him.

"I have a date!" The small girl declared.

The Dark Prince was completely confused, "What? With who?"

"With me," Tamaki beamed as he crested the top of the stairs and approached the trio, "Your driver has already been given instructions. We will see you two later."

Shaking her head, Haruhi scowled, "Senpai?"

The Host Club president snickered, "It is really easy. You and Nekozawa-senpai deserve to have a wonderful first date, and that has been arranged. I will take Kirimi on her own little date while you two have fun. Now you two need to go because you have reservations."

Haruhi couldn't help but question the motives behind the night, "Ok, what do you have up your sleeves?"

"Excuse me?" Tamaki asked.

"Are you going to follow us? Are the twins in your car? What is the plan?" The female host pressed for answers.

Shaking his head, Tamaki could understand why she was interrogating him, and he knew he deserved it, "I assure you that no one is going to interfere in your night with Nekozawa-senpai. The twins are at home and completely unaware of the plans Kyoya and I have made for you. I am taking Kirimi to the amusement park on our own little date, so even I will not be following you. You two are truly alone and will be able to enjoy your first date as much as you want. You don't have to worry about anyone spoiling your night. I promise."

Both Haruhi and Nekozawa were taken aback and finally the third year spoke, "Thank you Tamaki."

"You're welcome senpai. Now, can you put down my date so that we can go?" The Host Club president requested and as soon as Kirimi was released from her brother's arms, he grabbed her hand and they were on their way.

Turning back to his girlfriend, Nekozawa smiled, "I guess it is just us. Shall we go… where ever it is he arranged?" He offered her his arm and felt a rush of warmth infuse him as soon as she interlocked her arm with his.

"Let's," Haruhi giggled and together they walked to the car and got ready for whatever adventure Tamaki planned for them.

When the limo came to a stop, the couple looked out of the car window to see which restaurant had been chosen and Nekozawa furrowed his brow in bewilderment, "This place doesn't open until tomorrow."

Haruhi couldn't help but roll her eyes a little and mutter, "Damn rich bastards."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. The restaurant is probably doing this as a favor to either Tamaki-senpai or Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi smiled deciding to make the best of the night and not even think about her friends and their pull in the city, no scratch that… the country.

Laughing, Nekozawa stepped out of the car when the driver had opened the door and reached in to help her out, "You are probably right and for that, I owe them. That means I have you to myself even in a restaurant, and I don't have to worry about others bothering us except the wait staff."

Haruhi emerged and could feel her smile growing, "It does give us a memorable first date." However, she did still feel herself looking around at her surroundings before they entered the building, attempting to find anything suspicious. Just because Tamaki was busy didn't mean the others weren't there somewhere, but it seemed clear. Was he telling the truth about the others? If that was the case, she may have to record this day as a day of miracles.

As they stepping into the restaurant, they both noticed that the room was only lit with candles giving the whole establishment a romantic glow. It was enough light to see, but not too much so that Nekozawa was uncomfortable; and it was in that moment that Haruhi knew this had been Kyoya's doing. He was the master planner of the group, and Haruhi owed him a big thank you. With the soft music that was playing and the perfect lighting, it was a harmonious balance of the light and dark that they both needed in their lives.

Across town, Hikaru was pacing in his room willing his phone to ring, "Surely they are out on their date by now. Why hasn't the boss called us?"

"Maybe he forgot or maybe he wasn't planning on spying on them," Kaoru answered.

"WHAT? How could he not want to see this?"

Kaoru gazed at his brother for a moment, studying him before he spoke, "Are you alright with Haruhi dating Nekozawa-senpai?"

Sighing, Hikaru ran a hand through his hair and grumbled, "I don't like it, but I guess she is right, and he did save her."

"Good. I am proud of you Hikaru. Even if she doesn't choose us, Haruhi deserves to be happy."

"So should we call the boss?" The older twin asked blushing at his brother's praise. As long as he had Kaoru at his side, he knew he would be ok.

"Of course. If we don't we might miss the good parts!"

Pulling out his phone, Hikaru dialed the number for Tamaki's cell phone and got voice mail. He tried again, and once again it went straight to voice mail, "What is going on?"

"Try calling Kyoya," Kaoru suggested.

"Right!" Hikaru dialed the Shadow King's number and as soon as Kyoya had picked up the phone, the redhead was talking, "Kyoya-senpai, we are trying to get Tono on the line, but it is going to voicemail and we need to know where we need to meet to watch Haruhi and her date."

Kyoya had been waiting for this call and smiled, "You weren't called? How odd. Meet us at the old pier 24. They have converted it into one of those cook your own dinner restaurants. It teaches you how to cook your own gourmet meal. That is where we are meeting in 30 minutes, and coincidentally where the date is."

"Thanks Kyoya-senpai. We will see you soon!" Hikaru hung up the line and within minutes, he and his brother were out the door and on their way to pier 24.

The moment the limo pulled to a stop Kaoru was questioning his brother, "Are you sure this is the place?"

"This is the old pier 24, so it has to be the place. Doesn't look like much though," Hikaru replied and questioned the sanity of getting out at such a location. It was dirty, run down, and looked abandoned with only one car parked in front of the building, "I guess we need to get out in order to see what is going on. I think that is Kyoya-senpai's car."

"I guess," Kaoru said hesitantly. He didn't want to get out in such a place. It was a million times worse than Haruhi's neighborhood.

Both redheads got out of the car and gingerly made their way to the other vehicle parked in front of the building. Catching a glimpse of the license plate, they confirmed it was Kyoya's car, but why were there no other signs of life? They knocked on the back window and were relieved to see the vice president's face as soon as the window was rolled down and said simultaneously, "Oh thank god it's you senpai!"

"Well, don't doddle there. Get in here before someone sees you!" Kyoya ordered.

Opening the door, the twins climbed into the car and shut the door behind them. Hikaru was the first to ask, "Hi Mori-senpai. Kyoya-senpai, where is everyone senpai?"

"Everyone?" Kyoya questioned as he pushed up his glasses.

"Yes, all of the cars. This place looks abandoned," Kaoru explained.

Chuckling, Kyoya smiled, "That's because it is. My family recently bought it and will be converting it to a training facility for new officers that come into our private police force."

"But we thought you said…" The twins started. They could feel the hair on the back of their necks starting to stand up on end. Something wasn't right, and that was not good.

The Shadow King smirked, "Yes, I know what I said, but the truth of the matter is that Tamaki is out with Kirimi, and Haruhi is on a date with Nekozawa-senpai. No one is going to mess up the happy couple's first date."

Hikaru grabbed the door handle and tried to open the door. Unfortunately, it wouldn't budge.

"I flipped the child locks so the door can only be opened from the outside. As soon as you climbed into the car, my driver locked the windows so that they could not be rolled down. You are trapped with me and Mori-senpai," Kyoya grinned.

"Trapped?" Hikaru and Kaoru yelled.

Mori decided to try to set the twins' minds at ease, "It is just to allow them some alone time."

"Spying is not interfering!" Hikaru cried.

Shaking his head, Kyoya stated, "Normally, I might agree with you, but knowing what I do of the two of you and your less than accepting attitude earlier, I think this is a safer plan. Don't you? Now, we are just going for a little drive out of the city so that we aren't completely bored, and that will make sure that you aren't anywhere in the vicinity of Haruhi and her date with Nekozawa-senpai."

The twins looked at each other before moving their gazes to their senpais across from them… they were well and truly trapped and there was no way out of it. There would be no observing the date and no misbehaving tonight. The only thing they could do was sit there with the other two men hoping time moved quickly.

As far as first dates went, Haruhi had nothing to compare it to, but it seemed almost magical to her. After they ate dinner, Nekozawa asked her to dance and she readily agreed. The only problem was, she was used to leading and had a hard time breaking the habit. Her boyfriend didn't seem to mind though and they were able to laugh about it. When it was time to leave the restaurant, there was a park across the street where they found carriage rides, and as the horse moved around the park, they gazed up at the stars and enjoyed the feeling of being together.

Neither wanted the night to end, but eventually Nekozawa had to take Haruhi home. He escorted her to her door and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her close to him, and then his lips descended to hers and he kissed her slow and long, passionately telling her goodnight. When he finally pulled back, they were both a little light headed and breathless. "Normally, I would not say this, but sweet dreams my fair Haruhi," he whispered as he brushed his fingers over her cheek.

"Good night Umehito," Haruhi told him softly and stretched to give him one last kiss before she entered her home and left him for the time being.

Tamaki had been to the amusement park with Haruhi and the other hosts before, but experiencing it with a child for the first time was a whole new adventure for him. He wasn't sure who had more fun, him or her. They ate junk food, they rode on the rides, and they played games. It was moments like those that Tamaki wished he really did have a little sister of his own, and he felt a small pang in his heart.

As the night progressed, he could tell when Kirimi was getting tired and decided it was time to take her home, "Come on little one, let's leave and you can go to sleep."

"Ne, Tama, will you bring me back again?" Kirimi asked as she let out a large yawn.

Smiling, the princely type nodded, "Of course little princess."

When the limo pulled up to the Nekozawa estate, Tamaki scooped a sleeping child into his arms and carried her to the door where the butler was already waiting on him. He turned over his charge and headed to his own home reminiscing by himself about how much he had enjoyed himself with someone who had the last name Nekozawa. She really was nothing like her brother, but if the Black Magic Club president could make Haruhi happy, then he was satisfied… well as long as no spells, witchcraft, black magic, hexes, curses, etc. were used in making her smile.


End file.
